ShadowPlay
by Efiwyvan
Summary: Based in the recent Cartoon universe. The Turtles live in a world of shadows, but the world of shadows has never been so pervasive. Sorry for the delay, but Chapter 14 is now up!
1. The Game

Yes, I have been writing again. Bear with me, I am out of practice.

My goal here was to write a story that my daughter could enjoy (looking back at my other stories, it is plain to see that there are not many among them that I would want my--or anyone's--ten-year-old seeing). So there is no swearing ("Oh, shell" and what the shell" notwithstanding) or really graphic violence, but there is action and the same kind of whatnot you'd see on the cartoon. Please don't take that to mean it is going to stink (I **hope** it doesn't stink, anyway)

It is based in the recent cartoon universe, post _City At War_, but pre-_Exodus. _This chapter may be slow, but the story will pick up speed!

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**SHADOWPLAY**

**Chapter One: **

**The Game**

-

_Move forward silently… be stealthy… like a cat stalking its prey… like a wolf in the night… like a…_

**Crunch.**

Donatello's eyes widened and he looked at his brother, who was standing in the bright lights at the center of the alley, reaching into a bag of potato chips.

"Mikey, could you please not do that right now?" Don scolded quietly.

"Do what?" Michelangelo asked, tucking the bag under one arm and opening a bottle of soda.

Don grabbed the bottle and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. "We're supposed to be…" he stopped suddenly, listening to the sounds that echoed off the buildings around them. "Did you hear something?"

He crouched low and listened more intently.

**Crinkle… crunch.**

"Mike! Would you get into the…" _Wait… was that laughter?_

A dark form plummeted from the rooftops above them and landed on top of Michelangelo, sending the chips flying out of his hand. A moment later, another shadow sprung from behind a dumpster and grabbed Don, spinning him in a circle and bouncing him off a rubberized trashcan. Don fell onto his face on the concrete, the canvas bag he had slung over his shoulder landing on the back of his head with a thud.

_Definitely laughter._

"Tag! You're it!" Raphael chuckled, still standing on Mike's chest.

Don climbed to his knees and spit the gravel out of his mouth. "Thanks a lot, Mikey. You couldn't have waited until the game was over to have a snack?"

"I had the munchies."

Raph stepped off Mike's chest and offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet. "Yeah, give the kid a break. He's a growing turtle," he snickered.

Leonardo slid into the light and reached down, picking up the now-empty potato chip bag and throwing it into the trashcan that he had just bounced Don off of. "You have to admit, Mikey, that wasn't very discreet."

"Yeah, well what about the _brain_ over here?" Raphael said, jabbing a thumb in Don's direction. "What the heck was that, anyway? Double-O-Turtle?"

"I was trying to be stealthy," Don said. "Or is that not the point of _stealth_ tag?"

"I wouldn't say that you were exactly one with the shadows," Raphael elbowed him in the arm. "That bag of yours is gonna be the death of ya', bro. Sticks out like a sore thumb."

"Where else am I supposed to keep all my gear?"

"If it makes you feel better, Donny, I like your bag!" Mike said. "Mind if I see it real quick?"

Don pulled the bag closer. "I don't think so."

"Come on, guys," Leo said, beginning to walk down the alley. "Game's over for tonight. Let's head home."

Don fell into step beside him. "Why do we keep doing this, Leo? I mean, not that it wasn't fun the first, oh, fifty times or so…"

"Because Master Splinter says so," Leonardo broke in. "Because we're all a little out of practice."

"But why put me and Donny together?" Mike asked. "I mean, wouldn't it be better if I was with Raph or something?"

"Aw, I'd love to team up with you, bro," Raph said, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "You're all that and a bag of chips."

"Yeah, chips!" Mike reached over to Donatello's side and tried to unzip his bag.

"Seriously," Don said, slapping Mike's hand away. "Let's me and you team up next time, Leo."

"Yeah, and me and Raph," Mike said. "Then you guys can remind us what we gotta do."

"We should be no reason for us to remind you," Leo said. "Just remember what Master Splinter told us: Learn to discipline yourself and no one else will have to."

"So?"

"So discipline yourself, knucklehead," Raph said, cuffing Mike on the shoulder.

Leo sighed. "You have to learn to ignore the small stuff. Disregard car alarms, cats, traffic, or anything else that doesn't matter. Don't even let yourself be distracted by your heartbeat or the sound of your breathing. I mean, what were you listening to when you were supposed to be listening for us? We were following you guys for blocks and you never even knew we were there."

"At least I was in the dark," Don said, looking over at Mikey. "More than I can say for some people."

Leo shook his head. "That's another thing. It isn't enough just to be **in** the dark, you have to be **part** of it. If you're lighter than the shadows, you'll be seen. If you're darker than the shadows, you'll be…"

He stopped suddenly, placing a finger to his lips and backing into the gap between two buildings. His brothers followed, pressing themselves against the wall and straining to hear what had attracted his attention.

Leo pointed at a building that lay beyond the alley--past a barbwire-topped fence and a couple hundred feet of grass-grown parking lot--then held his hands up to his eyes, forming the shape of a pair of binoculars. Don nodded and unzipped his bag, reaching inside as quietly as he could; a sudden rustling sound broke the silence and he froze. Don gritted his teeth and slowly brought a package of pretzels into view. Raph and Leo stared at him for a moment, then they all turned towards Michelangelo.

"Well, I had to keep it somewhere," Mike whispered. "I ain't got pockets in my shell, you know."

Don put the pretzels back into the bag and worked his hand down past apples, bottles of soda, and what may have been a kiwifruit. "How much stuff did you put in here?" he snapped.

Mike shrugged. "It's just a light snack."

"For who? The entire Triceraton…"

Leo threw his hand over Don's mouth as a man with a rifle walked towards them, just inside the fenced area. He stopped and squinted into the shadows of the alley, then stepped closer, peering past the chain links. He reached slowly into his pocket and pulled out a small black device, placing it to his mouth.

"Northeast side, all clear," the man said, then put the walkie-talkie away and marched off.

When the man was out of sight, Leo lowered his hand and Don let out a breath. He reached into his bag again, working his way past Mikey's goodies, to the myriad of gadgets below. _Ammeter, ShellCell, PDA, night-vision camera, BattleShell remote…_ he identified each item as he felt it. _Ah, my binoculars!_

He pulled the field glasses out and removed the lens caps, then flipped a couple switches, activating them. Don grinned; he had made these when he was twelve, and they still worked perfectly.

"You can't do anything simple, can you, Donny?" Raphael said, poking the binoculars.

"Simple is boring."

Don looked through the eyepieces and zoomed in on the distant structure. People roamed around the base of the building, shining flashlights here and there along the ground. The only light from the building itself came from a single room on the fifth floor, though Don couldn't see inside because of a heavy curtain that hung there. Focusing his attention back to the surrounding area, he saw that there were several large trucks parked out front, all backed up to the doorway in a semicircle. A bevy of coverall-clad men were skittering around, carrying all manner of items; he saw cables, computer equipment, chairs… and crates with a red symbol stamped onto the side.

"Uh, oh," Donny whispered.

"What is it?" Leonardo asked.

Don handed Leo the binoculars. "Look at the boxes."

Leonardo peered through the eyepieces, then looked back at his brothers, scowling. "It's the Foot."

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Continued... 


	2. Silver Centipede

**Note:** Yeah, preachy Leo... hehe. I should have mentioned that he was paraphrasing a lesson that Splinter gave them. Leo does tend to be a little full of himself at times, but his heart is in the right place. Don't worry, the preaching doesn't continue... much :) I might also mention that, before long, the story will be a bit away from the lighthearted, more towards the darkness. I'm still trying to keep it readable to the younger set, but anyone who has read my older stories knows that it is hard for me to keep from getting too graphic. Bear with me :)

**

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**Chapter Two**

**Silver Centipede**

-

"Oh, this is going to be a fun night," Raph grinned wickedly.

"Donny, do you have any idea what all that stuff was?" Leo asked, handing the binoculars back to his brother.

Donatello took them and looked through again. "I can't tell from here. I see computers and stuff, but that doesn't tell me anything. I'll have to get in there."

"I only saw light on the fifth floor."

"Me, too. Seems like a good place to start."

"You know, maybe they aren't up to anything," Mikey piped up hopefully. "Maybe they're just gonna have a yard sale. Or maybe they're getting everything set up for a company picnic. Or maybe…"

"Maybe you should just shut up and get moving," Raph said, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him along after the others.

"Man… I thought we were done with the sneaky shadow thing for tonight," Mike pouted.

Leo slid forward and signaled to his brothers that the coast was clear. He linked his fingers together, holding them near the ground, and Raphael stepped into them, flipping over the barbwire and touching down noiselessly on the other side. Mike followed a few seconds later, landing a just bit louder. Don went next, but his own flip went astray, due to the excessively heavy bag he had slung over his shoulder, and Raph had to dodge out of the way as his brother came to a somewhat less-than-graceful landing. The various items inside Don's bag banged together and there was a loud pop as one of the snack bags burst.

Raphael grimaced and smacked Mike on the side of the head.

"Hey, what'd I do?" Mike protested.

"Just a light snack?" Raph growled.

Don rolled his eyes and took his bo off his back, sliding it through the links in the fence. Leonardo stepped onto the staff and flipped up, landing silently atop the barbwire, his feet a hairsbreadth from the rusty spikes. Then he leaped from the fence, rolling through the air and landing silently beside the others.

"Show off," Donny said, returning the bo to his belt.

Leo winked at him, then led the way across the parking lot. They went slowly, creeping along the ground in single-file. Halfway to their destination the beam from a flashlight hit the earth near them. The group flattened themselves to the ground, remaining perfectly still as the light swung around their prostrate forms.

_Nobody here but us speed bumps,_ Mike thought. He was sure that Leo was getting a kick out of all this sneaking around, but all Mikey really wanted was to be at home right now, sitting on a nice, soft couch, eating nachos and watching Day Of The Triffids. He didn't want to be tiptoeing around... **especially** around a bunch of Foot.

After a few long seconds, the light moved on and the Turtles continued forward, getting to the building in less than a minute. They snuck around the side and watched as the rear door on one of the trucks was slammed shut. The driver got into the vehicle and pulled away and another truck pulled up to the vacant spot by the door. People were milling all around the front of the building. Too many people. Too many eyes and ears to sneak past.

"We need a back door," Leo whispered.

Raph nodded and moved to a low window, shoving his sai under the wood. He pushed it in hard and twisted, forcing the panel up and bending the old brass latch at the top, then removed his weapon and jiggled the frame. The latch rattled, then fell away with a light clink, and Raphael slid the window open. The Turtles slipped into the first-floor corridor and squatted quietly on the linoleum, listening to the busy voices at the front of the building. It was hard to hear anything clearly, except for the occasional shouted order; but one voice stood out among the murmuring -- a deep, angry, familiar voice.

"Hun," Don whispered, gritting his teeth. "What's he doing here?"

"I'll give you three guesses," Raph growled. "And the first two don't count."

Leonardo led them to the far end of the hallway and through a heavy metal door. In the black space beyond, Mike could feel vibrations coming up through the floor and heard a distant rumbling like a diesel engine.

"What's that?" he whispered.

"A power generator, I think," Don said. "Sounds like it's on its last legs."

Mike moved his way along the wall, feeling the cracked plaster and peeling paint under his fingers and wondering where Leo had led them. He took a step forward and tripped over something, falling onto his face, but not very far. He felt around, resting his hands on the steps below him.

"A stairwell," Donny said, lifting him to his feet.

"You just figure that out?" Raphael said. He was already on the landing above them.

"C'mon, fifth floor's this way," Leo's voice came from right beside Raph. "And try to be a little quieter, ok?"

Mike and Don leaped the first few steps to their brothers, then the group started moving up together. They reached the third floor, then the fourth before they were stopped by a loud groan coming from somewhere nearby.

"Shoulda' let Mikey have that snack," Raphael griped.

"Hey, it wasn't me," Mike said innocently.

The groan led to a clank and the sound of stressing metal. There was a loud thud, then the screech of something being slid aside, then moved back again.

"They must have an elevator," Don said. "Pretty old one, from the sound of it. Probably why they have the generator up and running."

The Turtles reached the fifth floor and Leo led them out of the stairwell, into a long, dim corridor. They made it ten feet down the hall before Hun's booming voice brought them to a standstill.

"I want this place cleared out," he bellowed. "Move those trucks away as soon as they're full. I don't want anyone in the building when we start this thing up."

"Yes, sir!" Hun's underling shouted.

"Guess we know why the elevator was so grumpy... it had to haul his big ol' rear all the way up here," Mike said, allowing himself a little giggle.

Raph poked him in the back of the head. "Will you shut it?"

The sound of the elevator again filled the passageway, echoing off the walls. After a while the reverberations faded and Leo slid up to the bend of the corridor, peeking around.

"There's a light in a room about thirty feet away," he said, then turned to Michelangelo. "You want to take a look?"

"Why me? Why not invisi-boy over there?" Mike asked, pointing at Raph.

A moment later, Mike found himself being shoved around the corner. He scrambled for the wall, pushing himself against it and listening to Raphael chuckle in the darkness.

Mike sat motionless for a few moments before daring to move. _Ok… ignore the small stuff, he reminded himself,_ taking a couple tentative steps foreword. _Don't listen to my heartbeat… don't breathe…_ His head went light and he gasped. _Ok, don't listen to my breath, but **do** remember to breathe…_

Mike slid down the corridor as quickly as he could and peeked around the old doorjamb, into the space beyond. Though it seemed bright after the darkness of the passageway, the only lights in the room came from a pair of battery-operated hurricane lamps that had been mounted to the walls. The beams were directed at a trio of large metal desks at the center of the room. On each desk sat a computer, none of which seemed to be powered up. Two men in coveralls were busy behind the desks, plugging and unplugging wires, and once in a while stepping around the front to adjust something on a large silver box. The top of the box was dominated by a mesh dish, and all manner of wires and cables jutted out from its sides like the long, thin legs of some kind of mechanical centipede.

Mike looked away from the center of the room and drew in a quick breath, shrinking slightly back into the hall. Hun was standing by the window, just outside of the beams of light, holding the curtain aside and peering out into the darkness. The man tightened his grip on the fabric and pulled it down, ripping the curtain off the rod and dropping it to the floor, then turned on his heel and began walking towards where Michelangelo hid.

--------------------------

Continued...


	3. Gibberish

Note: I don't know a single thing about physics... please don't cringe too bad when I (not "if" -- "when") mess up on that front. Heh...

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**Chapter Three**

**Gibberish**

-

Mike leapt fully back into the hallway and listened to Hun's thumping footsteps as he made his way forward. The steps ended abruptly and there was a sudden bang, as if someone had dropped some heavy object onto one of the metal desks.

"Finish this now," Hun ordered. "I want this place cleared before we hook up to the city's power grid."

"Yes, sir!" two voices spoke at once.

The footfalls began again and Mike sunk back into the shadows, watching as Hun made his way to the elevator directly across from the room. He hit a button, opening the elevator doors, then stepped inside. A few scrapes, clanks, and bangs later and Hun was on his way to the first floor.

Mike let out a long breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding, then made his way back to his brothers, slipping around the corner and joining them in a huddle. "Ok, two guys in there," he said. "Look like computer geeks. Just a couple of pushovers."

Donatello shoved Mike. "Is that a fact?"

"Not that all computer geeks are pushovers," Mike went on, giving his brother a nervous laugh. "But, listen - I don't think we're gonna have to do anything about them, anyway. Hun said something about the geeks… I mean, the, uh, tech-types getting out in kind of a hurry."

Don's eyes widened. "Why the rush?"

"Got me," Mike shrugged. "But there's some gear in there that looks like it's right up your alley."

Leo held out a silencing hand and the Turtles froze, listening to the sound of the elevator once again.

"That was probably them leaving," Mike said.

Leo nodded and edged around the corner, motioning for the others to follow. They got to the room within seconds and Donatello was the first to peek past the doorframe. His face lit up with excitement and he rushed into the space, straight towards the assemblage of computers, but Mike reached out and grabbed him before he got too far.

"The window," Mikey whispered, pointing to where the curtain was now lying on the old linoleum.

Don nodded and got down on his knees, creeping below the level where anyone outside could see him, while his brothers snuck around the room, checking every corner for anyone that might have been left behind. After a few seconds of searching, they nodded to Don that it was safe to take a look. Mike watched as his brother started to go over the big metal box on the floor. Donny stuck his tongue between his teeth and turned the box onto its side, feeling the wires and checking their connections, then set it back on its base and shook his head.

"It could be anything," he said. "I'll need to get some power to it before I can…"

The lights above them flickered and came on full, bathing the room in blinding white light. After a bare moment of shock, the Turtles all dove for cover.

"Oh, yeah," Mike looked at Don, who was next to him under one of the big desks. "Hun said they were going to hook up to the city's power grid."

"You couldn't have mentioned that sooner?" Don snapped.

"Hey, Donny," Raph's gruff voice came from somewhere overhead.

"Yeah?"

"Smack Mikey for me."

"Quiet!" Leo scolded from a half-closed closet.

They all silenced themselves and listened as the elevator made its way back up. The doors slid aside and footsteps entered the room. Mike pressed himself closer to Don and glanced around the floor. There were three sets of feet. One of the men was obviously Hun, and the other two wore the coveralls that Mikey had seen on the techs few minutes earlier.

"Much better," Hun laughed. "I wouldn't want to deal with another cleanup like after the last overload."

Two voices hummed in agreement and Mike heard the computers power up. Fast fingers clicked across the keyboards.

"I don't know, sir," a nervous voice said. "It doesn't look like it's going to hold for long."

"Then I suggest you **make** it hold," Hun growled.

"I'm seeing power spikes."

"Fix them!"

"Yes, sir."

Feet shuffled around the desk and Mike watched as a coverall-clad human got down on one knee next to the big silver box. The man detached a couple of wires, then switched their positions, plugging them back in. He started to rise to his feet again, but stopped halfway up, bending back over and squinting into the darkness under the desk. His eyes grew wide.

"Hi, there," Mike said.

"What?!" Hun reached down and pulled Mike out by the shell, slamming him into a wall.

Donatello rolled out from under the desk and drew his bo, swinging it under Hun's legs and tripping him up. Hun crashed to the floor and Mikey tumbled on top of him, springing to his feet and stepping on the human's face as he ran away.

The human stood quickly and threw his fist in Don's direction, missing the Turtle but smashing the glass of the nearby window. Across the room, Leo sprung out of the closet where he had been hiding and tackled the two techs, sending them sliding across the floor and into Hun's feet. Hun looked down at them and didn't notice when Raphael swung down from a pipe that ran along the length of the ceiling. Raphael's feet made contact with the center of Hun's chest and the man tumbled out the window with a startled roar. A moment later, Mike heard yelling from the parking lot outside as someone raised the alarm.

"Donny, we're gonna have company!" Leo said, grabbing the two knocked-down techs and throwing them into the hallway. "Think you can figure that thing out in a hurry?"

Donatello ran for the computers and began to type. He shook his head and crouched down, adjusting the wires on the metal box, then stood up and began typing again.

"There's something…" he said, obviously wanting to do more thinking than speaking. "They were right about this thing having spikes. They're getting stronger… it might be headed for an overload."

The elevator begin to struggle again and Mike and Raph ran into the hallway, taking positions on either side of the rusted doors.

"Can you stop it?" Leo asked.

Donatello shrugged then shook his head. "Maybe. I 'm not sure."

"Then we're leaving."

The elevator opened and several large men ran out, only to be kicked back inside by green feet from either side of the doors. The two techs were thrown in after them, then Mike swung his nunchaku around the inside of the elevator, hitting the button for the first floor.

"Going down," he said, smiling at the bewildered humans as the doors shut them inside.

"Yeah, we are," Raph grabbed Mike by the arm and pulled him to the window.

Leo jumped onto the windowsill and looked back at Donatello. "Come on," he yelled.

Don's eyes flew across the computer screen and his fingers punched furiously at the keyboard. "It's definitely heading for an overload," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Then lets get the shell out'a here," Raph said, running to Don and yanking on his bag.

"No, wait!" Don told him, pulling away. "I might be able to figure this out. Give me a minute…"

"A minute?" Leo turned slightly. "Do you have a minute?"

"You guys go ahead! I'll just be a second!"

"Minute? Second?" Mike said quickly." Make up your mind, Donny!"

Don drew in a quick breath, examining the screen in front of him. "I don't know… " He reached down to the silver box and adjusted a wire. "This could be bad…"

"What?" Leo demanded. "What could be bad?"

Don started typing again. "Get all those people outside away from here, just in case I can't…" he let his voice trail off.

"You wanna hurry this along, Donny?" Raph growled.

"You want this thing to blow up in all our faces?"

"If we weren't here, it wouldn't **be** in our faces," Mike said, stepping up behind him.

"_Antinodal quasiparticle… special relativity_…" Don said, reading the words that sped across the screen.

"What are you talking about?"

"…_Interatomic displacement… hyperfine structure… particle-antiparticle asymmetry_…"

"We're waiting for the part where you start making sense, Donny," Mike said quickly.

"…_Simultaneity… nonrenormalizable effective interactions… hard light_…" Don stopped and scratched his head. "Hard light?"

"All that gibberish and 'hard light' confuses you?" Raph said. "You got issues, bro."

Leo let out a sound of surprise and Mike turned in time to see a huge hand grabbing him by the ankle. A moment later, Leo was wrenched out of view. Mike lunged for the window and looked out; Hun was standing on the ledge of the floor just below them, holding Leo over the parking lot by the leg.

Raphael leaped over Mike's head, flying through the shattered window and landing on Hun's back. He wrapped his legs around the man and twisted, loosing his grip on Leo, who began to fall towards the ground below. Mike jumped onto the ledge outside the window and reached down, grabbing Leo by the wrist. He leaned back and looked over at Don, who was yanking at the box's cables and sweating with concentration.

"Donny, come on!" Mike yelled. "We gotta…"

Hun lurched forward, flinging Raphael off his back, onto the linked arms of the other two Turtles. The ninjas were all caught off guard by the impact and Michelangelo lost his footing, sending the three of them tumbling from the fifth-floor ledge.

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Continued...


	4. Sparks

**Chapter Four**

**Sparks**

Donatello could hear his brothers yelling behind him, but all his thoughts were on the computers at his fingertips and the strange metallic device at his feet. His mind raced, deciphering the code as it scrolled by, and every time he tried to turn away he was pulled back in by a word or two that leaped out at him, increasing his curiosity. More and more data was revealing itself, and he felt as if he were very close to cracking this puzzle when the screens began to flicker.

A moment later a schematic of the odd device popped into view, all in shades of gray and white, except for the representation of a single cable, which was glowing an ominous red. Understanding well enough what the computers were trying to tell him, Don bent down and ran his fingers along the wires at the back of the box. He found the one he was searching for and tightened his jaw, hesitating for just a moment before yanking the cable out of the housing. The image stabilized and Don wiped the sweat off his brow, returning his attention to the codes that were back before him.

"Donny, come on!" he heard Mike holler. "We gotta…"

"Just give me two more seconds, I'll be right there!" Donatello yelled, looking over his shoulder in time to see Michelangelo tumble out of sight. "Mikey!"

The computers began to beep in unison, drawing his focus back to the words scrolling across their screens, but the data he had been concentrating on was now gone and all he saw flashing before him was the insistent warning of imminent breakdown. It was obvious now that whatever Hun and the Foot had planned, it was destined to fail. Still, Don didn't want to leave the device on the verge of a potentially catastrophic overload. After hearing Hun speak about the last "cleanup", he couldn't bring himself to believe that the box was simply going to fizzle and smoke when its time was up.

Don thought for a moment, then slid behind the desks, feeling around the backs of the computers. He found the power cord and followed it to the wall outlet where it was connected, then grabbed the plug and yanked it out of the wall.

_That takes care of that,_ he thought, grinning.

But the beeping didn't end and Don turned around, grimacing when he saw that all the computers were still on. He returned to the keyboard and started typing. The device's schematic popped up again, this time revealing a glowing blue rectangle--a freshly-charged battery, he realized--at the center of the box.

_What the shell?_ he thought, scowling. _This thing has a mind of its own._

Don decided this was a good time to leave and turned away from the computers, running to the window and looking down. To his relief, he saw his brothers lying atop a semi trailer directly below; they had fallen quite a distance, but, whether by virtue of shells or ninja reflexes--or by some form of extreme luck--they seemed to be none the worse for the tumble. Raph and Mike were already standing and were in the process of helping Leonardo to do the same when Leo turned his face up towards Don and shook out of their grip, yelling and pointing furiously.

Donatello spun just in time to feel Hun's fist make contact with his jaw. The turtle fell back into the room, landing on his shell and smacking his head against the floor. He leaped to his feet, drawing his bo just as Hun vaulted over the windowsill. Hun didn't waste any time, taking two quick strides ahead and slamming his fist into Don's shoulder, spinning the ninja into the computer monitors and sending them all crashing to the floor.

"You freaks don't know when to mind your own business," Hun bellowed, pulling into a kick that sent Don through the open closet door.

Donatello landed in a graceless heap in the corner, but quickly regained his footing and leapt back into the main room, faltering back slightly as the man lumbered towards him with his huge hand curled into a fist. The Turtle stepped onto one of the desks and flipped over Hun, hitting him on the side of his head with his bo and landing beside the silver box.

"Far be it from me to give you advice," Don said, spinning to face him, "but I'd get out of here if I were you!"

"And why should I listen to your kind?" Hun bellowed. He punched Don again, sending him flying under one of the desks.

"Because that thing is about to overload," Don yelled, trying to sit up but managing only to hit his head on the drawer above him.

Hun was preparing for another strike, but stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide. With a growl, the hulking man changed the target of his attack and kicked the box under the desk, pinning Donatello beneath it. Past a shower of sparks, Don could see Hun sprint for the window and leap through.

_One problem taken care of,_ Donny thought, trying to shove the contraption away from him. He heard a high-pitched whine and put his ear to the metal. "This is not good," he frowned.

Don twisted around awkwardly, managing after several long seconds to wedge his bo between himself and the box, then pushed up hard, dislodging the device. It crashed to the floor in front of the desk and he slid out, trying to stand but finding himself ensnared by the twisted mass of wires that ran between the box and computers. He started to carefully untangle himself, but the whining grew more insistent and he decided that this was not the time for delicate actions.

He closed his eyes and grabbed the cables, pulling hard and tearing some of them free of the metal housing. The wires skittered around, hitting each other and causing great sprays of electricity just inches from Don's body as he struggled loose of his bindings. He got to his feet but still found himself being held back. He turned to look at what had gotten hold of him, then slapped himself on the forehead when he saw that his bag had managed to catch on the meshwork antenna on the top of the box.

_Raph could be right about this bag,_ he said to himself, grabbing the dish and rotating it away from himself.

He yanked back on his bag, freeing the snagged canvas, then somersaulted across the floor, landing on the far side of the room. He spun his bo and grinned triumphantly at the dish, which was now bent out of shape and twisted around towards the window.

_The window,_ Donny reminded himself, _I have to get out of here._

He stood and ran to the pane, throwing his leg over the ledge and looking down at the commotion below. All manner of people were racing from the building, none of them stopping or looking back. He watched for a few seconds as they made their ways out across the parking lot, into the darkness beyond the fence. City lights reflected off black water a few blocks to the west; Don figured, as some flashlight beams bobbed off in that direction, that at least some of the people were headed for the ships that were moored at the wharf.

Looking straight down, he saw that, in the midst of the exodus, his brothers still stood waiting for him on the back of the truck. Leo was waving his arms, motioning for him to take the leap. Don nodded and leaned out the window, preparing to jump, but a sudden crackling noise brought his attention back around.

He spun in time to see one of the cables, propelled by an intense surge of power, tear itself loose of the metal housing. The lights in the room began to flicker violently as the errant cable whipped up into the air, spitting out sparks. It lashed around again and the frayed copper end struck the dish on the top of the box, arcing electricity from the antenna to one of the nearby metal desks.

Donatello dropped his bo and lifted his hand, shielding his face from the sudden, severe light. For a moment the air around him went silent…

**oOoOoOo**

Leonardo watched as Hun jumped from the window above and landed on the truck, putting a huge dent in the metal. The Turtle drew his weapons and watched from the corner of his eye as his brothers did the same, preparing for the upcoming fight. But Hun didn't attack; he barreled straight ahead, shoving his way through their ranks and knocking them to their shells before jumping off the end of the semi trailer.

"Evacuate the area!" Hun yelled to the people around him. "Now!"

Leo rolled to his knees and watched as everyone around the building dropped what they were doing and obeyed the order. Cars roared to life and took off, their tires skidding on the ground as they spun out. Others fled on foot, the beams of their flashlights cutting through the darkness as they made their way from the building.

"What the shell was that all about?" Raph asked, helping Leo to his feet.

Leonardo sheathed his swords and turned back towards the window. "Don!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?"

"Hey, Donny! You okay?" Mike hollered, standing as well.

After a few seconds of no response, Raphael stepped closer to the building and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Yo, Donny!"

The three breathed a collective sigh of relief when, nearly a full minute later, their brother came into sight. Don put his leg out the window and looked off into the distance, then down to where they stood.

"Come on, lets go!" Leo yelled, waving him down.

Don nodded, then looked back over his shoulder.

_I bet he's kicking himself for not having time to figure that thing out,_ Leo thought, allowing himself a smile.

His smile faded when he saw the lights in the room begin to waver. The illumination flared and Don thrust his hand in front of his face, allowing his bo to tumble from his grip. A deep silence descended and, for a fleeting moment, Donatello was silhouetted within the frame of the window; then all sounds rushed back in and Leonardo watched in horror as his brother was consumed by a torrent of flame.

**

* * *

**

_**Continued...**_


	5. Rack And Ruin

**Chapter Five**

**Rack And Ruin**

-

The Turtles cried out to their brother, but their words were lost as a shockwave spread out from the building, ripping the truck out from under their feet and sending them all tumbling through the air. Leo landed hard and skipped like a stone across the ground before skittering to a halt. He turned his face to the sky for a moment, then pressed it back to the asphalt as chunks of burning debris rained down on him, ricocheting off his shell. After many long seconds the downpour ended and Leo dared to pull himself to his knees, looking around for his brothers. He found Mike a few feet away, lying perfectly still, half-buried beneath a mass of broken stones. Leo gasped and crawled to his side, shoving the debris away and grabbing Mike by the shoulder, shaking him.

"Mikey!" he yelled. "Wake up!"

"Donny!" Mike called out as his eyes flew open. He leaped to his feet, looking towards the smoldering building, but it was only a few seconds before balance failed him and he collapsed to his knees atop a pile of broken bricks. He shook his head sadly and turned his gaze down, focusing on something in his hand. Leo leaned in to look, then lurched back as if he had been physically struck.

"I caught it when Donny dropped it," Mike said softly, running his fingers along the cracked end of Donatello's bo.

Leo felt a rush of cold travel up his body. He had hoped that there had been some way for Don to make it out of the building, but the evidence of the sheer power of the explosion lay on the ground all around them. There had been no time to escape, no place for Don to take cover; the blast had torn away the entire top half of the structure in less than a few seconds, and Donatello had been right at the heart of it.

A yell came from behind them and Leo turned around, watching as Raphael, dirty but apparently in one piece, jumped up and started to run towards the demolished building. Leonardo stood and sprinted to his brother, grabbing him from behind and forcing him to the ground next to what was left of the truck that they had been standing on only minutes before.

"No, Raph!" Leo yelled. "You can't…"

"We gotta get Donny!" Raphael twisted out of his hold and stood again. "I'm not gonna leave him in there!"

"_In there_? **Look** at it, Raph!" Leo hollered, grabbing him by the arm. "There is no 'in there' anymore!"

Raphael glared at him, then turned to the building. "But… Donny…" he mumbled, his muscles tensing under Leo's grip.

Leo shook his head slowly.

The two Turtles stood silently for a few seconds, then Raphael wrenched himself free and screamed out in anger, punching the truck beside him.

"Raph, we have to…" he stopped and tilted his head, listening.

The sound of sirens cut through the roar of the nearby flames and Leo looked into the darkness beyond the parking lot, watching as the flashing red lights of a fire engine turned a corner on a street just outside the surrounding fence; police cars and ambulances joined in the display a moment later. From somewhere above, the thumping rotors of a helicopter drew near.

Leo grabbed Raphael by the wrist as he threw another punch. "We have to go," he said. "Now."

Raph listened for a moment, then shook Leonardo away. The two of them ran to Mike's side, pulling him to his feet.

"Mikey, come on," Leo said. "We have to leave."

He looked at them, then down at the broken bo. "What about Donny?"

Leo jerked his head up as the rescue vehicles broke through the fence. "He wouldn't want you to get caught," he answered quickly.

Mike nodded and, on unsteady legs, ran off into the darkness with his brothers. The three slid around the encroaching lights, sneaking through the hole the rescue vehicles had just put in the fence and sprinting into a nearby alley. They stood there for several minutes, watching as water was pumped onto the smoldering building and glancing up as news helicopters circled overhead. Teenagers jumped onto the fence, peering through the chain links, and people all up and down the street leaned out their windows, trying to get a better look at the destruction. Leonardo looked at Raph and Mike. They nodded, not needing to be told that it was time to go home, and the group made their way to a nearby manhole, slipping inside and returning the lid -- shutting out the commotion of the world above.

Raphael kept his fists clenched the whole way home, every once in a while letting loose a furious yell and punching the bricks that made up the sewer walls. Mike was quiet -- nearly silent except for an occasional shaky breath. Leonardo, himself, didn't know what to think, what to say… what to do. He wanted to lash out in anger, like Raphael; he wanted to cry, like Mikey -- but he couldn't allow himself to do either. Not yet, not in front of them… not when they needed him to be strong.

They stopped for a moment outside the door to their home, then Leo shoved the lever and they stepped inside, allowing the door to swing shut before moving on. As Leo had expected, their master was waiting up for them, sitting motionless on a tatami mat in his bedroom, immersed in silent meditation. He opened his eyes and smiled as they approached.

His smile failed upon seeing their faces.

Raphael folded his arms tightly across his chest and leaned against the wall, staring at the floor. Leo could see that he was still doubling his fists -- still shaking with anger. Mike glanced down at the bo he still held, then squeezed his eyes shut. Without a word, he thrust the broken weapon into Leo's hands and stepped away, joining Raph by the wall. Leo looked at the fragmented wood in his grip, then stepped up to Splinter, falling to one knee and bowing his head. Their sensei's eyes widened with shock, then lowered with sadness as Leo held out the shattered staff.

"Master… Donatello…" the breath caught in his throat as he tried to speak.

Splinter reached out, gently taking the bo from his son's hand. Leonardo had said enough.

* * *

_

* * *

_

_Ok, don't hurt me... I promise you, it isn't as bad as it seems... chapter six coming really soon!_


	6. Heavy Air

**Chapter Six**

**Heavy Air**

-

_…Pseudovector… intrinsic angular momentum… entropic uncertainty relations… wave-particle duality…_

_...Somebody get those kids away from the fence and get another hose in here…_

"Huh?" Donatello opened his eyes and watched the stars waver behind billows of smoke. His ears were ringing, but he was certain he had just heard a stranger's voice.

"I want that area over there cleared out! And have those ambulances pull back, there's nobody here that needs 'em."

_What the shell…?_ Don turned his head to the side and saw people. Lots of people. Police officers, firemen, reporters… too many people. I gotta get out of here… he thought, grinding his teeth.

He acted without stopping to think, leaping to his feet and running through the mob of humans, desperate for the shadows at the edge of the lot. He didn't stop to see if he was being followed, didn't try to step around the debris in his path. He leaped over everything, including a moving police car that he was certain he wouldn't be able to clear. His improvised escape route led him to a large hole in the fence and he slipped through, sprinting past a group of teens that seemed more interested in the spectacle three hundred feet away than the big green mutant that ran right in front of them.

Finally stopping in an alley, Don slid himself next to a wall, sequestering himself in the darkness. He put his hand on his chest, breathing hard. The air felt dense in his lungs and he figured he must have been breathing smoke in for quite a while. So long a while, in fact, that he could no longer smell it though it blanketed the area. He took one long breath, then another. It didn't help, his lungs still felt heavy after several long minutes away from the heart of the smoke.

After a time, Don dared to step foreword, looking intently at the demolished building that he had, not long ago, been standing inside. Everything from the third floor up was gone, blown away by the force of the explosion. The rest of the structure was now on fire and flaming hunks of unidentifiable material fell from the crumbling walls, shattering on the ground below. Donatello shook his head, amazed that he had managed to survive the destruction. He had been right there--right next to the silver box when it overloaded. He could still see the flames and twisted metal rushing at him, could still feel the heat that surrounded him.

_I must have fallen out the window,_ he thought. _Shell, I'm lucky._

Don's thoughts turned from himself to his brothers. The last time he saw them they had been standing on a semi trailer directly below the window, farther away from the overloading device than he had been. If he had come through the blast in one piece, they must have been able to, as well -- and they were probably assuming that the worst had happened to him. Snapping his fingers, Don swung his bag around and unzipped it, reaching inside, past Mikey's now-crushed snacks to the gear at the bottom. His hand slid here and there among the crumb-covered instruments, then his fingers closed around his ShellCell. He pulled it out and clicked it open, punching a few buttons before holding the phone to his ear.

But all he could hear was silence. There was no ringing, no answer, no static… nothing. He lowered the device and flipped it over, pulling the casing off the back and examining the wires within and shaking his head.

_Maybe that dumb box fried it,_ he thought, slipping the cover back on.

He threw the ShellCell back in his bag and crossed his arms. He couldn't call his brothers, so he would have to try and find them.

_Best place to start is home,_ he thought. _At least I can get Master Splinter to help me look for them if they aren't there._

Don made his way to a nearby manhole and reached down, putting his fingers through the holes on the top and trying to lift. It didn't budge. He took a heavy breath and tried again, pulling up as hard as he could, but the lid was stuck tight. Deciding it was best to search for a more accommodating access point, he slid out of the alley, then down two more. Another manhole came into view and he kneeled down, grabbing the lid and straining as he tried to raise it. Nothing happened. Don let go of the lid and looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers.

_What did that thing do, knock all the strength out of me?_ he thought, rubbing his palms together. _Think, Don… I gotta' find the guys. But how..?_

"Casey and April!" he yelled.

He cringed at his unintended volume and listened for his voice to echo back from the walls surrounding him. But the echoes didn't come, and after a few moments it occurred to him how flat and dull his voice had sounded to begin with. Then again, he was surprised he could still hear at all, after how loud the explosion had been. He rubbed his ears, trying to chase out whatever was affecting his hearing, and snuck to the corner of the alley, peeking around. He ran to another alley across the street and started to make his way to the other end; but footsteps approached and he stopped, crouching down in the shadows as a flashlight beam cut through the darkness. The light passed over him, then moved along. He heard radio static and a voice spoke up.

"I guess all those kids finally went home for the night. Lets get some tape up before…" the voice diminished as the officer walked away.

Don smiled, wondering what Leo would say about his stealth skills now. He hadn't even been seen with the beam of a flashlight directly on top of him. He chuckled lightly to himself and stood, sprinting down the alley, then into another. He ran on that way for quite a while, ducking behind parked cars and dodging past late-night wanderers, eventually finding his way to the familiar sign that hung over April's antique store. He crept behind the building and let out a disappointed breath when he saw that her van was not there. A quick climb up the fire escape and a peek in her window confirmed that April was not at home.

_Great,_ he thought. _That leaves Casey._

Don leaped to the sidewalk and began running again, ducking down more alleys, hiding behind more cars, and slipping past even more humans. Fed up with running, he stopped at a manhole and tried to lift the cover. But it seemed that the strength in his arms had not yet returned and the lid didn't move at all, no matter how hard he struggled with it. He let go of the cover and jumped on it, more out of irritation than the thought that the action might actually have any effect -- which it didn't.

He reluctantly continued on his way and was tired and frustrated by the time he got to Casey's apartment; and that frustration was only made worse when he realized that Casey's motorcycle was gone, as April's van had been. Donatello let himself catch his breath for a few moments before sneaking up the fire escape and looking into the apartment. It was dark inside, but Don could see well enough to tell that Casey was not there.

_He must have gone out,_ Don thought, knowing well what "going out", for Casey really meant. _He could have picked a better night for beating on Purple Dragons._

Don hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the bottom of the window and tried to pull up. _Wonderful,_ he thought, aggravated by--though not overly surprised at--his inability to budge it. _If I were Raph, I'd just break the glass… then Casey'd kill me._ He sat down on the fire escape and yawned. _Hopefully he won't be out long._

Stretching, Don leaned his shell against the brick wall and closed his eyes, intending to rest them for only a moment. He didn't notice when he dropped off to sleep.

---------------

Continued...


	7. Cold Comfort

**Chapter Seven**

**Cold Comfort**

Raphael yawned and stretched, paying no attention to his popping shoulders. He had been up all night, unable to sleep, unable to lie down. Sometime around six-o'clock he had finally convinced himself to sit, but even that was done reluctantly. He'd long lost count of how many walls he had punched over the last few hours, but from the look of his bruised and scraped knuckles, he figured it must have been a lot.

Not that bruises and scrapes were an unusual sight this morning; he and his brothers--his **two** brothers, he reminded himself angrily--were covered with them, though the damage hadn't been apparent until after they had washed off the dirt and ashes. Mikey had a big lump on his head and a black eye, not to mention a big bruise on his shoulder from where he had hit the ground. Leo's arms and legs looked as if he had been scrubbing them with sandpaper -- another result of hitting the ground and, in his case, sliding across it. Raph knew he must have looked just as bad as they did, but he hadn't been able to force himself to look in a mirror. All he was sure of was his hands--his knuckles. And he had done that to himself.

Looking towards the kitchen, Raph could see that April was sleeping at the table, her head resting atop folded arms. She had come over as soon as they called her and had spent hours talking to them, trying to give them some kind of hope that Donny was still out there, still okay. But she hadn't been there to see the destruction; she hadn't seen the fire or the fallout. After a while she stopped trying, and that was when they realized, with great regret, that they had succeeded in convincing her of something that none of them really wanted to believe in the first place.

Raph fidgeted in the easy chair and looked over to the couch, where Leo and Mike had settled in a few hours before. They were also sleeping, though they were doing so sitting up and leaning against one another. Mike let out a little noise and Leo, though asleep himself, nudged him. Mike twitched a bit, then settled back down. Raph was sure that they were both caught up in bad dreams… dreams about Donny. That had been part of the reason Raphael had refused to let himself sleep: the fear of those dreams.

The other part was that Raph wanted nothing more than to go out and find the Foot--to go find Hun--and pay them back. Splinter and the others had stopped him from doing that for several hours, but now they were all asleep and he didn't have to try to explain himself if he left. He reached over and grabbed his sais out of the now-tattered chair arm, where he had repeatedly stabbed the upholstery in his anger. He stood and stretched again, then made his way across the room, stepping quietly and deliberately so he wouldn't wake the others.

_Somebody's gotta to do something,_ Raph thought, trying to keep himself from throwing another punch at the already dented walls. _And that's gonna be me._

He stepped to the door and rested his hand on the lever, but the sound of a clearing throat made him stop suddenly. He tightened his jaw and turned around, looking into Splinter's tired eyes.

"Were you leaving?" Splinter asked.

Raphael hated it when their sensei asked questions that he already knew the answers to. "I was just gonna go tell Case what happened," he said, tightening his grip on the lever.

It wasn't a complete lie. They had called Casey several times over the course of the evening, but the phone had gone unanswered. Raph hated Casey not knowing, if for no other reason than he needed someone else who was willing to take the pain and turn it into payback.

Splinter let out a breath and stepped up to his son, placing a hand on his tensed arm. "You are angry and hurt, Raphael," he said, lowering his eyes. "We all are angry and hurt. I cannot stop you from leaving, I can only ask that you think before you act, my son."

"Yeah, well… thinking ain't exactly my strong point, is it?" he eased away from his father's touch and pulled the lever, opening the door. "It was Donny's."

"You are… we are **all** in a darkness that cannot be easily overcome, but you must have faith that in time the light will return."

"How can you be so sure?"

There was a pause, then Splinter spoke up softly. "There has never been a sunset that was not followed by a sunrise."

Raph looked into his father's eyes, but could not make himself linger under his gaze for long. "I'll be back in a little while," he said, turning away.

"Please do not ask me or your brothers to endure another loss today, Raphael."

Raph tightened his fist. "You're not gonna lose anyone else, Master," he said, still facing the tunnel. "I'm gonna make sure of that."

He stood silently for a moment, then stepped through the door, into the sewers beyond their home. He knew as he made his way into the shadows that Splinter was watching him go; he felt old eyes on him, right up until the moment when he reached a corner and stepped around it, out of his father's line of sight.

**oOoOoOo**

Casey jumped and fell off the couch, bouncing off the coffee table on his way to the floor. He rubbed his head and sat up, unsure if he had just heard a knock or if his mind was still pounding from the mutual beatings he and some Purple Dragons had layered on each other the night before. The sound came again -- definitely a knock, and definitely from the vicinity of the door, not the inside of his skull.

"Who's there?" he asked, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Me, Case," A familiar voice came from the other side. "Open up."

Casey wobbled to the front of the room and pushed the latch aside, opening the door. "Woah, Raph," he said, stepping out of the way to let the Turtle in. "You look like somebody dropped a building on you."

Raphael glared at him. "You don't know the half of it," he said, leaning a shoulder against a wall.

Casey looked at Raphael, then at the door, then the Turtle again. "Hey, why didn't you use the fire escape?"

"It felt like a front door kinda' day."

"Day?" he looked out the window, squinting at the light. "Yeah, what're you doin' out in the daytime, anyway?"

"We were tryin' to call you all night. You turn your phone off?"

Casey scratched the top of his head and shrugged. "Naw, I left it home. Couldn't have it goin' off while I was out tendin' to business, y'know?" he said, chuckling. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me. I was out, you know, doing my thing, and there was this big ol' ball of fire got tossed up a couple blocks from the wharf. Made a heck of a big boom, nearly knocked me off my bike. You guys see it?"

Raph nodded stiffly and looked down at his knuckles. "Yeah, we saw it."

Casey tilted his head to the side. Raphael looked angry. Of course, Raphael was often angry, but this time he looked a kind of angry that Casey couldn't quite figure out. "What's wrong, Raph?"

Raphael stepped away from the wall and walked to the window, looking out at the city. "Something happened, Case," he said, then turned around and bounded across the room. "C'mon, we're leaving." He grabbed Casey's helmet off the coffee table and threw it to him.

Casey grabbed for the helmet, but ended up juggling it from hand-to-hand a few times before getting hold of it. "Where we goin'?"

"To where you saw the big boom," he said, heading for the door. "I'll explain when we get there."

* * *

_**Continued...**_


	8. Eidolon

**Chapter Eight**

**Eidolon**

**-**

_"Something happened, Case. C'mon, we're leaving."_

_"Where we goin'?"_

_"To where you saw the big boom. I'll explain when we get there."_

Donatello heard voices again -- but these voices he knew. He sat up on the fire escape and rubbed his eyes, then looked up into the sky and winced at the light. Daytime. When had it become daytime?

_Real smooth,_ he said to himself. _Falling asleep like that._

Don climbed to his feet and looked through Casey's apartment window. He was certain he had just heard Raph and Casey talking, but they weren't inside. Somewhere down below, he heard two motorcycles rev up and he spun to look, then jumped from the fire escape, landing behind a dumpster and crouching down just as the bikes sped off around a corner. Beyond the alley was bright daylight -- that would slow him down in getting wherever it was he was going. He pursed his lips, realizing that he didn't even know where Raph and Casey had taken off to.

He rubbed the center of his forehead. _Of course! Big boom! The building!_

He bit down hard and stepped to the edge of the alley, peeking into the street beyond. It was empty, so he ran across, to another alley. He snuck to the other end and did the same thing -- peeking, then running to the safety of the shadows.

_This is going to take forever,_ Don thought, looking at a nearby manhole. He reached down and tried to lift the lid, but this time he wasn't surprised when it didn't move.

_Figures,_ he thought, then continued on his way, peering into the streets, then sprinting for the darkened gaps between buildings. A few times people walked around nearby corners after he had begun his way across, but somehow he managed to avoid being seen. It helped a little when some clouds rolled in, blocking out a bit of the sunlight and making the shadows between buildings that much darker. Still, it took a long time for him to get to his destination, and he was quite thirsty and out of breath by the time he did.

At the end of his last sprint, Don leaned his shell against the bricks of a tenement and unzipped his bag, bringing out one of the bottles of soda that Mike had stashed there the night before. He opened it and took a long drink, making a face at how warm and overly fizzy it was, and he had to clear his throat a few times to get rid of the tickling sensation it left behind. He took another mouthful before screwing the top back on and tossing the bottle into his bag. He was getting hungry, too, he realized, but taking care of that particular annoyance could wait until he was back home.

Don stepped up to the barbwire-topped fence and placed a hand on it, then squinted through the chain links, towards the far off building -- or, what was left of it. He could see two people standing in the middle of the debris, but from this distance he couldn't tell if they were more foe than friend, so he reached back into his still-open bag and felt around, pulling out his binoculars and dusting off the potato chip crumbs. He flipped the switches on the sides and the spyglasses hummed to life. Peering past the residual grease, Don saw two familiar motorcycles parked just beyond the worst of the rubble.

_Casey and Raph,_ he thought, smiling.

Donatello turned off the binoculars and put them away, then glanced back and forth down the length of the fence and slipped through a large hole not too far from where he stood. He made his way across what was left of the parking lot, stepping over and around huge chunks of metal and stone that had, at one time, been part of the building at the lot's center. He got to within a dozen feet of Raph and Casey's backs and opened his mouth to call out to them, but a fragment of their conversation froze him in his steps.

"Somehow, I always thought I'd be the first one to…" Raph said, shaking his head and doubling his fists. "I ain't gonna let it be like this, Case."

"An' you shouldn't," Casey replied, placing a hand on the Turtle's shoulder. "Family… that's the most important thing you got. An' when someone takes that from you, you gotta do somethin' about it."

Don stumbled back. Family? Had something happened to the guys?

"So, you're with me on this?" Raphael asked.

"Name the time, Raph," Casey nodded. "Donny was just about a brother to me, too. I just wish I'd a'been here last night, I coulda' laid a smackdown on them punks right then an' there."

Don's mouth fell open. _They think I'm…_ He launched himself forward. "Raph! Hey, I'm okay! See! I'm in one piece!" he yelled, jumping in front of the pair.

But neither Raph nor Casey answered. They didn't turn to look at him; they didn't make a move to indicate that they had heard his voice.

"We can't let Leo or Splinter know," Raphael went on. "Mikey, either… he'd try to come along. I don't want him getting mixed up in this."

Donatello grasped his brother's arm but it seemed that Raphael's flesh was as hard as stone. Don gripped harder, first with one hand, then with two. But just like the manhole covers, just like the window, Raphael would not move under Don's touch. He let go and stepped back, looking down at his hands.

"What the shell is going on?" he said, flexing his fingers, as if the motion would return some vitality to them.

"So, when we gonna start?" Casey asked.

"You're not," another voice spoke up.

They all turned, watching Leonardo walk around the corner of the demolished building. He was followed close behind by Mike, who had his face turned towards the ground and his arms folded loosely across his chest. Raphael let out a low growl.

"I don't wanna talk about this right now, Leo," he said, looking his brother in the eye. "You deal with this your way and let me deal with it mine."

Donatello jumped between them and started waving his hands around, "Hey!" he yelled as loud as he could. "Leo! Can you hear me? Mikey? Somebody? Anybody?"

"Going after the Foot isn't going to help anything right now," Leo went on.

"What? You think I don't know what I'm doing?" Raph snarled. "Me and Case'll handle this ourselves, seein' as how you don't wanna get your hands dirty."

He started towards his motorcycle, but Leo reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. "The Foot didn't actively set out to do us any harm, Raph," he said. "Not this time."

Raph wrested his arm out of Leo's grip, swinging it back and hitting Don on the shoulder. Don spun from the impact, tripping over a pile of bricks and falling to the ash-covered ground. He sat up and rubbed his shoulder; it felt as if someone had slammed a metal pipe against him, rather than a drawn-back hand. There had been no give in the blow, and Raphael didn't seem to have felt it at all.

"So you think that makes it okay?" Raphael said, lowering his arm. "What about the other hundred times they tried? You think they're loosing any sleep over this?"

"You want somebody to blame, Raph?" Leo snapped. "Blame** me**. I was the one that led us in there."

"Why are you suddenly defending them?"

"I'm not defending them. I'm trying to keep you from going out and getting yourself killed," Leo said, getting in his brother's face. "The fact of the matter is that none of this had to happen. We showed up, we got in the way of whatever it was they were doing. They didn't even stay to fight us. They left, and we had the chance to do the same, but we didn't. None of this had to happen."

"Even if they weren't planning on doing something last night, they were still planning on doing something." Raphael was breathing hard, the way he always did when he was trying to keep himself from throwing a punch. "Or do you think they were just gearing up for the Fourth of July with that little fireworks display?"

"Will you guys please stop fighting?" Mike spoke up, his voice thin. Everyone turned to look at him.

"We're not fighting, Mikey," Leo said, calming his voice. "We're… discussing the situation."

"Adamantly," Raphael added.

Donatello let out a breath of heavy air and stood. "Can't you hear me, Mike?" he asked. He got no answer, so reached out and put his hand on Michelangelo's arm. It was the same as Raph's had been -- as hard as stone. Don let go of his brother and put his hands on his own chest. "Guys, come on," he said. "Stop knocking yourselves out over this. I'm right here."

"Y'know, Leo," Casey said. "Raphie does have a point. I mean, they had to be up to somethin' last night."

"Maybe," Leonardo turned to the man. "But if I'd have just… if we'd have gone straight home instead of snooping around out here… Donny'd still be alive."

Donatello's eyes widened. "But I **am** alive!" he hollered. His stomach let out a slight growl and he placed a hand over it. "I mean, if I'm dead, then why am I hungry?"

"Can't we just go home now?" Mike asked, giving the crumbling building a sidelong glance. "I really don't like it here."

"Uh, Mikey," Casey said, taking a step back. "I think you're about to like it a whole lot less."

The group turned to look where Casey was staring, then every weapon was drawn as they watched a host of ninja appear out from behind the ruins. The Foot stepped forward in an orderly and silent mass, then their ranks parted and a familiar face came into view.

Raphael gripped his sai tightly, drawing breaths between his teeth. "Karai."


	9. Old Enmities

**Chapter Nine**

**Old Enmities**

-

Leonardo held a sword out in front of Raphael, silently warning him not to instigate a battle, but even as he did so he could tell that Raph wasn't going to comply. A blur of movement at the edge of Leo's vision drew his attention away for a moment, and in that moment Raphael leaped forward, his sai aimed at the woman that stood in the middle of the gathered Foot. Karai raised her hand and the ninjas around her closed ranks, forming a living barrier between their mistress and the attacking Turtle. But the move didn't deter Raph, and he rolled on the ground, tripping up the first enemy in his path, then leaped to his feet, using the tumbled ninja as a springboard and flipping over the heads of the others. He touched down in front of Karai just as she unsheathed her sword, and the two clashed, sparks flying as metal met metal.

Leo and Mike immediately dove in to the swarm of ninjas and began fighting their way towards their brother. Casey let out a yell and leaped into the fray, as well, reaching behind his back and feeling for the hockey sticks and baseball bats that weren't there.

"Aw, man… I left my gear at…" was all he managed to say before a black-gloved hand made contact with his jaw, knocking him down.

Leo saw the blow and twisted around, pulling into a back flip and kicking Casey's attacker to the asphalt. Casey sat up and rubbed his jaw, then leaned back and kicked away the twirling bo of one of the ninjas that were bearing down on him and Leo. Case shot to his feet and caught the staff before it hit the ground, sliding his hands to the end and swinging it like one of his bats. The wood made contact with the back of the Foot he had just disarmed, sending the ninja flying to the ground.

Leo nodded at Casey, confident that the man would now be able to hold his own, then leaped into a flying side kick, incapacitating a ninja that stood between him and Mike. The two Turtles started into a series of roundhouse kicks, each ducking as the other came around to strike the ninjas that were advancing on them. Before long the crowd was thinned, and the only heated battle still being fought was between Raphael and Karai.

Raph locked his sai around Karai's sword and sent it flying into the rubble. She bent back and ducked below Raphael's next swing, reaching behind her and bringing out her heretofore concealed kusarigama. Before Leo could yell out to his brother, she swung the weighted end up, lassoing Raph's arm with the chain and forcing the weapon loose of his grip, then brought up her knee, impacting him in the face. He shook off the hit, but Karai was already moving. She flipped over the Turtle's back, at once disentangling the chain from his wrist and twining it around his neck. She spun the sickle handle and aimed the curved blade at Raphael's head.

"Karai, stop!" Leo yelled, running towards them.

"Leonardo," she jerked her head to the side and stared silently into the disance for a moment, then returned her attention to the Turtle before her. "If you would kindly lower your weapons…" she continued calmly, tightening her grip on the chain.

Leo stopped in mid-step and looked from Karai to Raphael, then lowered his katanas before swinging them behind his back, returning them to their sheathes. He glanced back at Mike, who reluctantly brought his nunchaku around, sliding them into his belt; then they turned to Casey, who was still holding on tightly to the staff he had acquired at the beginning of the fight. The man sighed, then tossed the weapon away, smirking with grim pleasure when it bounced off the head of one of the nearby beaten-down ninjas. Leonardo turned back towards Karai and nodded.

"Now, Karai… If you would kindly release my brother…" he said, his tone the same calm that hers had been.

In one movement, the woman unlashed the chain of the kusarigama and flipped away from the Turtle. She landed gracefully a few yards away, letting the weapon swing to her side, but not making any move to put it away. Already her followers were getting to their feet and encircling her, reforming the ranks they had been in when they had first arrived.

Raphael grabbed his dropped sai off the ground and jumped up, taking a step forward.

"Stand down," Leo ordered with an outstretched hand.

Raph made a low, angry sound and raised his sai towards the woman. "Someday it's just gonna be you and me, Karai," he snapped, then turned away, rubbing his throat.

"What are you doing here, Leonardo?" Karai asked, ignoring Raphael.

"We have some…" Leo stopped, trying to find the right words. "Unresolved business here."

Karai looked at each of them in turn. "And what business would that be?"

"Family business," Leo went on. "We are here to honor our brother's memory, not to get into a battle with you, Karai."

"Your brother?" she said, then flipped her kusarigama up, allowing the chain to wrap around the handle before sliding it into place behind her back. "He was responsible for the explosion last evening?"

"Don't you dare accuse Donny of..." Raph bellowed.

"Raph!" Leo spun to look at him.

"In about five seconds you're gonna wish it was me you caught up in that blast instead of…" Raphael said, still speaking to Karai as he took a step forward.

Leo's upraised hand brought him to a standstill. "Not now, Raph," he said, speaking low so only his brother could hear him. "Maybe she knows something that we don't."

Raphael looked at the woman with sullen anger, then took a reluctant step back. "She hasn't changed much."

"And you haven't changed at all," Karai countered. "The empty vessel continues to make the loudest sound."

"What was this place?" Michelangelo spoke up for the first time since the Foot had arrived.

Karai faced him. "It served no specific purpose," she said. "However, it was my master's property, so it falls on me to…"

"Shredder got you on cleanup duty, eh?" Raph interrupted. "Wazza'matter? Dear ol' dad ground ya?"

Leo gave him a warning glare.

"This building once served as a Foot storage facility," Karai went on. "But its use was discontinued a very long time ago."

"I'd hardly call eight hours _a very long time_," Raphael said.

Karai drew her eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"We saw a lot of items being removed from here not long before the explosion," Leo said. "Including crates with your master's symbol on them. And the room where... there were computers in a room on the fifth floor."

"And a stupid silver sqare box thingie," Mike added.

She stepped up to the crumbling wall and pulled her sword out of the rubble, sliding it into the sheath on her back. "Can you remember anything else?" she asked.

"I thought she was supposed to be giving **us** answers," Raph growled.

Leonardo folded his arms across his chest. "All I can say for sure is what I saw myself," he sighed. "Just a bright flash, and it was quiet for a second... and then..." he shook his head. "Donny was a little busy trying to stop it from overloading, he didn't really get to tell us anything about what he thought was going on."

"Just some anti-quasi-paticle-hard-light stuff..." Mike mumbled.

Karai shot her head around to look at him, then returned her eyes to Leonardo. "You are mistaken. What you are suggesting is not possible.'

"Don't give us that old line, Karai" Raphael stepped towards her, twirling his sai into an attack position. "We know what we saw."

"Stand down," Leo ordered again.

Raph spun around. "I am sick of you defending her, Leo! What she did…"

"She wasn't here last night," Leo said, then looked towards the woman. "In fact… I don't remember seeing any Foot here last night. No ninjas, anyway."

"And what about Hun?" Raphael said between clenched teeth. "Last time I checked he was in with this no good group of…"

"Hun was here?" Karai spoke up.

"Are you stupid, lady?"

Karai stared off into the distance, then walked up to the three Turtles and their human friend. "I cannot in good conscience deny you your time of mourning," she said abruptly. "You may have your moment, but a moment only." She turned her back to the group and walked away, motioning to her ninjas to do the same. The Foot closed in around their mistress and followed her as she led them around the corner of the building, out of sight.

"I didn't know she had a conscience," Raphael said, narrowing his eyes. "Let alone a good one."

Leo let out a breath and glanced over at Mike, who was looking off to the side, away from the others.

"Mikey, you okay?" Leo asked, putting a hand on his arm.

Mike jumped and spun around. "Uh, yeah," he said, fidgeting. "It's just that… well, I thought I just…" his shoulders slumped and he kicked at a small rock on the ground. "Never mind. Let's just go home, okay?"

Leonardo turned towards Casey and Raph, who were speaking quietly to one another. Raphael slid his sai into his belt and made a fist, shaking it angrily. Casey nodded and pointed away from the building, then looked up and saw that Leo's eyes were on them. He elbowed Raphael in the arm, silencing him.

Leo stepped over to them and leaned in close. "Whatever it is you two are thinking of doing… don't."

"What makes you think we're up to something?" Raphael said as he walked away. He grabbed the helmet off his motorcycle, strapping it on.

"Do not go after Karai, Raph."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Raphael said, then climbed on the bike and revved it up, kicking up a cloud of dirt and ash as he sped off.

Casey looked at Leo and gave him a nervous laugh. "Hey, you know Raphie-Boy… he's just gotta go blow off a bit'a steam," he said, jumping on his bike and putting on his own helmet. "I'll keep an eye on him for ya'." With that, he hit the accelerator and drove off behind Raphael.

_Yeah, why not,_ Leo thought, shaking his head and watching the dust clouds diminish. _Insanity loves company._ He turned his face towards the bright midmorning sky, then stepped to Mike and placed a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, it's time to go home."


	10. Hard Light

**Chapter Ten**

**Hard Light**

**-**

Donatello was by Leo's side when Raph launched into his attack, but Don quickly discovered that he would be unable to take part in the battle. Several times he tried to join in the fight, but each time he grabbed somebody he got unceremoniously tossed aside; every hit he landed was like slamming his fist against stone. Once or twice he saw someone coming up behind his brothers or Casey and he yelled out to them, but his voice was as ineffectual as his touch and his warnings went unheard. Before long, Don was left standing on the sidelines, helplessly watching the events that played out before him. But his instincts kicked in when Karai managed to get Raphael in a stranglehold -- unfortunately, his attempt to kick the woman's legs out from underneath her managed to do nothing but hurt Don's own ankle. He stood up and doubled his fists, closing his eyes and letting out a scream of frustration.

When he opened his eyes, Karai was looking at him.

"Can you hear me?" he asked, his hand flying over his mouth.

She didn't answer, but turned away and began speaking with Leonardo. Over the course of the next few minutes he tried to get somebody to notice him. He jumped up and down on his aching ankle, waving his arms and screaming as loud as he could -- feeling every bit an idiot as he did. Not that it mattered if he felt--or looked--like an idiot, he realized, since nobody even glanced towards him.

Karai turned and walked away just as the clouds above them began to part; Don looked up at the blue sky that was peeking through, then over at his brothers. He wanted so much to go home, to be with his family and friends, but what good would it do if they couldn't see or hear him? They would never even know he was there. But Karai… maybe if he followed her he would be able to dig up some answers. He looked at Mike again, who was standing next to him with his eyes on the ground.

"Don't worry, Mikey," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be home soon."

Don chased after Karai and found her on the other side of the parking lot, still surrounded by her faithful ninjas. She waved her hand and they scattered, running and leaping off into the darkness between nearby buildings. When the crowd had fully dissipated, Karai continued out a gate in the fence and walked up to a limousine, opening the door and turning to stare at the ruins she had just left behind.

_Corporate ninjas,_ Don thought, smirking at the limo. He made his way to the woman and took advantage of the open door, sliding into the car. A few moments later, Karai stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

"To the auxiliary office, Ritsuko," Karai said to her driver, then reached under her seat, pulling out a laptop computer and turning it on as the car began to move. Her eyebrows drew together as she focused on the screen before her. "No, Ritsuko," she spoke up again. "To Bayle street."

"Yes, Ma'am," the driver said, then turned the wheel.

Donatello tried to lean in close enough to see the data Karai was pouring over, but her hair slid in his way as the car made a U-turn. Don reached up and placed a finger on the black strands, trying to guide them out of the way, but he found them to be as immoveable as everything else was at this point. For the next few minutes, Don tried his best to see over Karai's shoulder and past her hair, but every time he managed to catch a glimpse of the screen they would round a corner and his efforts were wasted.

_Probably not the best idea I've ever had,_ he thought, shaking his head and sitting back, wincing when his shell hit the hard seat.

Don's stomach let out another growl and he unzipped his bag and reached inside. Rifling through Mike's snacks, Don brought out a squished kiwifruit and eyed it curiously. It wasn't pretty, but it would do, he figured, and he awkwardly peeled off the fuzzy brown skin and popped the fruit into his mouth, eating it all in one bite.

"Okay for an appetizer, I guess," he said, reaching in the bag again.

Karai lifted her head and looked out her window. "Ritsuko, stop the car."

Don yanked his hand out of his bag as the limousine skidded to a quick halt. Karai shut her laptop computer and slid it into a black case, then opened the door and stepped out onto the street. Don leaped out after her, fearing he would be stuck inside if she shut the door too quickly, but it turned out that he needn't have rushed, since she stood standing by the open door for nearly a minute before slamming it shut.

Karai walked to the driver's window and leaned over. "Go," she said. "I will call you when I am done."

Ritsuko nodded stiffly, then rolled up her window and drove away. Karai watched the car until it rounded a corner, then walked, computer case in-hand, to a nearby hotel. Don scratched his head in confusion, but followed her, thankful that the revolving door she passed through had continued to revolve, allowing him passage into the building. The woman stepped up to the counter and the clerk handed her a key without a word, as if people walking in with swords on their backs was a common occurrence in this part of town.

Donatello followed Karai to a room on the ground floor and she opened the door, stepping in. Don slipped through just before she swung the door shut and latched it, then she unzipped her computer case and set the laptop on an old desk directly opposite the bed. Don rubbed his hands together as she sat down and switched the computer on, anticipating the opportunity to finally see what it was that had Karai so preoccupied in the car. The computer hummed to life and she began to type, and the Turtle leaned in eagerly.

Don sat back and rubbed a sudden ache between his eyes. _Japanese,_ he thought. _Why's she have to be working in Japanese? I knew I should have paid more attention to Master Splinter's language lessons. Now, if it was in code I'd be able to…_ He stood up straight and chuckled to himself. _It **is** a code,_ he thought, leaning back over the computer and examining the screen. _**Every** language is a code, and any code can be broken. Alright, Don… time to start cracking this one._

He tried to focus his eyes on the foreign words flying across the screen, but before long everything he saw looked like a jumble of laced lines and twirls. He was sure he could figure it out, but first he would have to actually be able to see it, and it was going by much too fast for that.

"Slow down!" Don yelled despite himself.

Karai looked up from the computer and Donny jumped back, making his way from the woman as she pulled herself out of her chair. She turned towards the Turtle, her eyes staring where he stood, but her gaze going right through him.

"Donatello, I presume."

Don backed up another step. "You can hear me?"

Her eyes darted around the room for a moment, then she closed them and a distant look crossed her face.

"Can you hear me, Karai?" Don asked again.

"I wasn't certain you were still with me," she said. "But I had my suspicions."

Don smiled slightly. It was nice to know that someone--anyone--was aware of his presence. "And that's why you came here instead of going to your office?" he asked.

"I could not have risked leading you into a restricted area," she told him, opening her eyes.

He swallowed hard. "So, then... I'm not actually _dead_… right?"

"No."

"Well, that's good," he let out a relieved sigh. "For a while there…"

"Not yet."

"Oh," Donatello cleared his throat. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what's going on, would you?"

Karai crossed her arms. "It is... complicated. I will give you what aid I can, but I would first request that you bring your brothers here. I will explain when you return."

"Wait," Don held a hand up, even though he was certain she couldn't see it. "You do realize that sounds like a trap, right? What if all you want is for me to get them here so you can..."

"I give you my word of honor, Donatello," Karai broke through. "You came here seeking answers; I am offering you those answers. You may accept my aid, or you may decline it -- but my honor will remain intact in having offered it."

He lowered his hand and nodded. "But how am I supposed to get them?" he asked. "They can't even see me."

Karai turned and walked to the desk, flipping on the reading light that sat beside her computer. She picked up the lamp and aimed it in Don's direction and he flinched in the brightness, looking away. On the edge of his vision he saw movement -- a shadow against the wall. He turned, watching as the shadow did the same. He waved his arm, and the shadow waved. He jumped; the shadow jumped.

"Hard light betrays you," Karai said, returning the lamp to the desk. "Light that casts the sharpest shadows will reveal your presence."

Don shook his head. "I guess I have to take your word for it. But still, that doesn't mean I'll be able to get the guys' attention."

"Perhaps you could try speaking to them," Karai said, sounding exasperated. She turned and walked to the door, unlatching it and stepping into the hallway.

Don hesitated for a moment before following her. "I did try. They didn't hear me," he said as they walked down the passage.

"I am quite certain they are able to hear you. They are simply distracted at this time."

Donatello looked at the clerk's confused face as they crossed the lobby. "Yeah, by their heartbeats, their breathing…" he let out a little chuckle.

"By your passing," she walked out the revolving door and gave it a shove, allowing Don a chance to go through as well. "There are few things as pervasive as grief."

They rounded a corner into an alley and the woman stepped to a manhole. Don couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy when she took hold of the cover and lifted it to the side.

He sat on the edge of the hole and looked up at her. "Wish me luck."

"Find your way home and return here quickly," she said. "I will be waiting, but not for long."

Don jumped down into the darkness and winced when he landed, biting down as pain made its way through his injured ankle. He looked up as the lid was slid back into place and the light from the world above was extinguished.

"Great, so how I'm supposed to get them here?" Don asked himself. He opened his bag and took out the bottle of soda, taking a drink before capping it and throwing it back into the bag. He absentmindedly kicked at an old, crushed can, but the can didn't move and he fell to his hands and knees, sending the contents of his still-unzipped bag tumbling out onto the ground.

"Just what I needed," he started to gather up the scattered food and instruments, gladly leaving a large amount of crushed chips on the sewer floor. He paused as he picked up his ShellCell and turned it over in his hand before trying to dial out again. He sighed when nothing happened and threw it into his bag, then picked up his binoculars. "Wait a minute... why do these work, but not my phone?"

A thought crossed his mind and he tried to snap his fingers, but the potato chip grease kept them from making any noise. "My phone is on constantly, so it might have gotten fried... but maybe the other things…" Donatello quickly gathered the other items off the ground, leaving one particular instrument for last. After the food and gadgets were all stored, Don reached over and picked up the last one, flipping it on and grinning when it began to beep. He allowed himself a chuckle. "Perfect."

-


	11. The Crux

**Chapter Eleven**

**The Crux**

**-**

"You sure this is the place?" Raphael peered out from behind a huge coiled mass of anchor chain and focused his eyes on the cargo ship moored on the other side of the dock. "The _Crux Atlanticus_?"

"Positive," Casey told him, looking over the Turtle's shoulder. "I think."

Raph glared at him. "You do know what the word **positive** means, right?"

"Hey, give me a little credit, bro. It was dark out an' all, but you can't really miss seein' where a however-many-ton ship is parked."

"Except that there's gotta be twenty however-many-ton ships around here," Raph turned back to look at the rusted vessel. "Just tell me this is the right one, Case, so we can get this party started."

Casey nodded. "What I remember was there was a bunch'a Purple Dragons all over the place over to the end of this pier. I picked off a couple when the others weren't looking, but the most of 'em had guns, so I tried to keep it down a bit, y'know. But they looked like they was on guard or somethin' over by that gangplank, watchin' these other folks bring on all kinds of stuff from some white trucks out that way." He pointed to the end of the dock.

Raph sneered. "What kind of stuff?"

"Boxes, computers an' all that," Casey went on. "But that was before the building went up. After that people came runnin' from all over and up onto the ship. I saw Hun right up there by the rails. Looked mighty ticked, too."

Raph nodded. "Ok, then this is the place."

They were both quiet for a few moments, then Casey reached over and tapped Raph on the shoulder. "So, what's the plan?"

Raphael tightened his jaw. "We don't have one."

"Wouldn't hurt to get one."

A coverall-clad sailor made his way down the gangplank and the pair ducked back behind the chain. "Well, whad'ya know," Raph said, smirking. "Here comes our plan now."

The man walked along the length of the dock, inspecting each line and bollard that held the ship in place. When he got to the bow line he turned and began his way back towards the gangplank, but his path took him a bit close to the coiled anchor chain and a green hand reached out, grabbing the sailor by the back of the neck and slamming him to the deck. The impact was enough to knock him out and sent his ball cap flying several yards away.

"Dang, I was hopin' to lay a fist into this guy," Raphael said, disappointed. He unzipped the coveralls and yanked them off the unconscious sailor, then shoved the outfit into Casey's hands. "Here, try these on for size."

"Why do I gotta be the one to play dress-up?" Casey asked, holding the coveralls out in front of him.

"Cuz it clashes with my skin tone," Raph rolled his eyes. "You wanted a plan, Case… this is the best I got right now."

"Yeah, well you wanna let me in on it?" Casey asked, struggling his foot into one of the coverall legs.

Raph turned to his friend. "All I need you to do is distract 'em so I can get onboard."

"Yeah, well, I ain't exactly a stranger to these guys, you know… someone's gonna recognize me."

"I'll bet they'd recognize me quicker. Not too many green Purple Dragons around."

Casey wriggled his shoulders into the coveralls and zipped the outfit up, then tried to stand, but only managed a hunch. "These things are too small," he griped.

"They'll do," Raph said, dashing into the open for a moment and grabbing the sailor's ball cap. He rejoined Casey behind the anchor chain and shoved the hat onto the man's head. "There. Better?"

"No."

"Get movin'."

"Wait a minute!" Casey waved his hands. "What kinda distraction you lookin' for, anyway?"

"A big one."

"What am I supposed to do? Launch the freakin' ship?"

A sly expression worked its way across Raph's features. "See, I knew you'd come up with something."

"Huh?"

Raphael pointed towards the bow of the ship. "Cast off the mooring lines. That should get 'em focused up that way and I'll take the back way in. Up that line, there." He jabbed his thumb towards the stern.

"An' what about me?" Casey asked. "How am I gonna get on?"

Raph flicked his finger against the brow of the hat. "You work there, remember?"

Casey took the ball cap off and looked at the words _Crux Atlanticus_ embroidered across the front. "Oh, yeah… I guess I do!" he said, putting the hat back on and tucking his hair up under it. "Where you wanna meet up?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you."

"Good idea," Casey said, stepping over the still-unconscious sailor and making his way around the chain. As he walked out into the open a grip on his arm made him stop and turn around.

"Listen, Case…" Raphael muttered, letting go and looking a bit embarrassed. "Just, you know… be careful, alright?"

Casey nodded. "Don't worry, bro. I got it covered."

Casey stood up as straight as he could in the undersized coveralls and adjusted his hat, then ambled towards the bow line, trying to look inconspicuous as he went. He picked up his pace in the last few dozen feet, then casually stepped around the six-inch-thick rope that secured the ship to the dock. He put his hands behind his back and whistled, looking up and down the length of the pier before taking hold of the line and trying to pull the loop free of the bollard. A full minute of yanking later and Casey was still no closer to releasing the heavily-tensed line as he had been to begin with. He stood up almost straight and scratched the top of his hat, trying to figure out some way to get the ship loose of its binds.

He heard a whooshing sound and saw a flash of metal at the edge of his vision. Casey jumped back, then looked at the line and saw a throwing star jutting out of it, just above the splice. He grinned and glanced back towards Raphael, giving him a slight wave of thanks, then pulled the star out and began slicing through the rope. The line thinned and the last remaining strands snapped, and Casey coolly backed away, then turned and ran to the next bollard, cutting though that line as well. Casey pocketed the throwing star, watching as the bow of the ship began to drift slightly away from the wharf, then sprinted up the gangplank.

"Hey, uh… shipmates!" Casey hollered, stopping on weather deck. He swallowed hard when at least ten faces turned his way. "We got a problem with the, uh… things." He pointed towards the pier. "The ropes! Up that way, they went… they're off!"

The sailors looked at him for a few seconds, then returned to whatever they had been doing before he had drawn their attention away. Casey slapped himself on the top of his hat and shook his head, then began waving his arms in the air.

"The ship is floating away!" he yelled.

The sailors looked at him again, but this time one of them stepped up to the gunwale and looked over. The man's eyes grew wide and he started yelling to his shipmates behind him, then everyone started running and hollering. Some of the sailors made their way down the gangplank, others ran to the bow, and still others disappeared into hatches on the ship's deck. Soon there were people running all over, ignoring Casey and anything else that wasn't directed towards the front of the ship, and Casey took the chaos as his opportunity to slip away aft.

Standing on the fantail, Case looked down at the coiled anchor chain below. "Yo, Raph!" he whispered, cupping his hands over his mouth and treating his whisper like a yell. "Where are ya', bro?"

A hand clamped over Casey's mouth and he found himself being pulled down behind a capstan. He struggled away and turned around, but wasn't entirely surprised when he saw it was Raphael who had grabbed him.

"'Bout time you got here," the Turtle said, peeking around to look at the scrambling sailors.

"So what do we do now?"

Raphael rubbed his chin, then motioned with his head for Casey to follow him. The two of them snuck across the fantail to an opened hatch and Raph peeked inside before leading Casey into the empty passageway. They quietly made their way forward, checking door after door and finding them all locked. They came to a junction and went left, but came across only more locked compartments; another turn, and more of the same.

"Somethin' about this place sets my teeth on edge," Raphael said. "Where is everyone?"

"Fixin' them lines, I imagine."

"Doesn't take a shipload of sailors to do that," Raph said. "Did you see any Dragons up on deck?"

"I dunno," Casey shrugged. "Maybe they're all dressed up, too." He unzipped the coveralls and let the top half hang down, then tied the arms around his waist. "An' if they're lucky, their clothes fit 'em."

Raphael swung out his hand, slapping it over Casey's mouth. "Shh… listen," he said, getting close to the deck and creeping to a corner. "You hear what I hear, Case?"

Casey listened, then shrugged. "No. What?"

"Hun," Raph said. "And someone else."

The Turtle slid back suddenly and grabbed Casey by the shirt, shoving him against the bulkhead. The two of them stood silently as footsteps worked their way down the passageway.

"It isn't as simple as that," a slight, ineffectual voice said. "There are too many variables to consider."

"We are years from being able to do this the way you want it done," another, more confident, voice spoke up. "Look, the theory is sound, but the execution…"

"You will find a way to make it work," Hun said. "Or the only execution you'll need to worry about is your own."

The trio walked past the junction and Raphael slid forward, peeking around the corner. Casey joined him a moment later and they watched the group continue on, oblivious to the stowaways they had just passed by.

"Those are the techs I told you about," Raph whispered to Casey.

"You saw what happened last night," the more assertive man said. "It's lucky everyone got out of that building." He stopped and looked at Hun. "Everyone **did** get out, right?"

"Everyone that mattered," Hun grinned and grabbed the tech by the arm.

Raphael clenched his fists and started to step foreword, but Casey pulled him back.

Hun pulled out a set of keys and unlocked one of the doors, throwing the tech inside. "I'll be back for you later," he said, then slammed the door and locked it. He grabbed the other tech by the back of the neck. "You'll come with me. We have some things to discuss."

"Yes… sir," the man cowered under Hun's grip as he was dragged farther down the passageway and around a distant corner.

Raphael looked back over his shoulder. "How do you like the plan so far, Case?"


	12. HeebieJeebies

**Chapter Twelve**

**Heebie-Jeebies**

**-**

"Any idea where they went?"

Leonardo looked at April and shook his head. "No, but I don't think they were going after Karai," he told her. "And it looked to me like Casey was trying to tell Raph where to go, not the other way around."

"Great," April said, leaning back in her chair. "The blind leading the blind."

"Should we go after them, Sensei?" Leo asked, looking across the table at Splinter.

Splinter scratched his whiskered chin. "I do not believe that they would willingly return home with you if you did."

"I guess I can't really blame Raph for taking off," Leo sighed. "I mean, I want to be out there trying to set things right, too, but…" his voice trailed off.

"But there is no way to set things right," Michelangelo spoke up from the doorway, where he had been listening to the conversation in silence. He looked away and shuffled his feet. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said that."

Leo gave his brother an understanding nod of the head. "Somebody had to say it, Mikey," he said, resting his elbows on the table.

Mike glanced at the floor. "I'm gonna go take a nap."

He turned in the doorway and walked to his bedroom, then flopped down on his bed, closing his eyes. He rolled over once, then again, trying to find a position to lie in that wouldn't aggravate his numerous scrapes and bruises. All he managed to do, however, was make them worse by rubbing them across the mattress. "Oh, yeah," Mike said to himself, sitting up and flicking on his reading lamp. "That's why I slept sitting on the couch last night… this morning. Whatever."

He reached to his bedside table, grabbing his stack of Silver Sentry comics. "Read that one three times," he said, flipping through them. "Twice… six times… three again… four… eleven…" he stopped and pulled that particular comic out of the pile, tossing the others back on the stand. "Worth another five reads, at least," he said, opening the cover.

Mike examined the drawings on the first page: Dr. Malignus was had a sonic disruptor cannon pointed at a helpless group of people in the middle of the subway. _You cannot defeat me, Silver Sentry, _Mike read the words, remembering the sound of Dr. Malignus's voice from the time when he and the real Silver Sentry had tangled with him. _You are too honorable to risk the lives of so many innocents, and by the time you… …_

_"… Hey, Mikey…"_

Mike lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. Wait, that's not Dr. Malignus… I must have drifted off. He looked back down at the page. "Help! Help! Save us, Silver Sentry," he squeaked, trying to imagine what the blonde lady on the page would sound like. "You're our only…" Mike's eyes blurred and his head drooped.

_"…C'mon, Mikey… I know you can hear me…"_

"Eh?" Mike sat up straight. "Who's there?"

He glanced around the room for a moment, then down at the comic that had slipped out of his hands, onto the floor. His eyes scanned the room again, then he reached down quickly, snatching the comic book off the floor before anything could reach out from under the bed and grab him. Nothing did, so he took the lamp off his nightstand and leaned over the edge of his mattress again, shining the light under his bed. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw nothing there but a bunch of comics, a skateboard, and a large colony of dust bunnies.

He sat up on the bed and replaced the lamp, then leaned back against his headboard and closed his eyes. "I just gotta get some sleep, that's all."

_"…Mike… I need your help…"_

_Wait, was that..._ "...Donny..?" Michelangelo's eyes opened and jumped to his feet, standing on the mattress. He shook his head. _No, no it **can't **be Donny..._ he reminded himself. "Who the shell is in here?" he said, squeaking bit too much like the comic book blonde for his liking. "Speak up, or I'll… I'll do something I can't think of right now. But I'll do it!" His heart was pounding in his ears.

He walked to the end of his bed, then glanced around the room again, and his eyes fell on the spotlight his reading lamp was casting on the wall. He couldn't be sure, but for a moment he was sure he had seen something walk past it. He stared at the light a bit longer, and this time he was certain there was a shadow there. Mike waved his arms, but the shadow didn't move. His widened eyes traveled up and down the length of the silhouette, then came to rest on what looked like a duffel bag hanging on the phantom's side. Mike jumped backwards and his foot came off the edge of the bed, sending him crashing to the floor. He scrambled backwards then jumped to his feet and ran out the door, through the living room, and into the kitchen.

"Leo! Master Splinter!" he yelled, skidding to a halt and breathing heavily, nearly to the point of hyperventilation. "I was in the… and the… Dr. Malignus was all… I heard it and…" he stopped, trying to catch his breath.

Leo looked up at his brother, then at Splinter and April. "Anybody understand that?"

Splinter got to his feet and put a hand on Mike's shoulder, looking deep into his eyes. "What was it that you heard, Michelangelo?"

"I was in my room and it said 'Mike' and a couple of other things and there was this blurry blob on the wall and… and it sounded like Donny and it had his bag..."

"Are you sure you didn't just fall asleep, Mikey?" Leo asked, swallowing hard.

"Yes! I didn't! I mean, no! I mean… I was awake! I think..." he hung his head and let out a breath.

April stood and grabbed Mike by the arm, pulling him towards the door. "Come on, lets go take a look," she said.

Mike dug his heels into the floor. "No, it's okay… you go ahead, I'll stay right here!"

"I'm sure you just left a radio on somewhere," she went on, pulling harder.

"Never mind! I think, yeah... I did fall asleep! Just dreaming, guys!"

Leo sighed and stood, grabbing Mike's other arm. "She's right. Let's go take a look. Coming, Sensei?"

Splinter didn't answer, and the three of them turned to look at him. He was standing perfectly still with his eyes closed. He nodded, then smiled and looked towards the bewildered group. "You must leave," he said.

Leo and Mike looked at one another, then back to their master.

"Right now?" Leo asked.

"Yes, immediately," Splinter said as he walked into the living room.

"Where are we going, Sensei?" Leo asked, falling into step beside him.

"I don't care where," Mike spoke up, running to the door that led to the sewers. "I just wanna get out of here... this place is giving me the heebie-jeebies today."

"No, Michelangelo," Splinter motioned off to the side. "That way."

Mike stopped and looked to where Splinter was pointing: the elevator that led to the surface. The Turtles glanced at one another, then complied, stepping inside.

"So… why are we doing this?" Mike asked, now a little curious, but no less eager to leave the lair.

"Because your brother needs you," Splinter told them, then hit the button, closing the door.

Mike's mouth fell open as the elevator began to ascend. "What was that all about? Did he get a phone call from Raph or something?"

Leo shook his head. "No," he said, drawing his eye ridges together. "We were talking about him, but… I don't know. Maybe Master Splinter just decided that he wants us to go out looking for him, after all."

"You think he'd have just said so instead of kicking us out of the lair," Mike said. "Not that I really want to be there right now, anyway." He shivered.

The elevator stopped and they stepped into the warehouse. "I'm sure he has his reasons," Leo said, walking to the BattleShell and climbing into the passenger's seat. He slammed the door shut and looked over to Mikey, who had situated himself in the driver's seat.

Mike shut his own door and snapped his seatbelt into place. "So… any idea where we're supposed to be going?"

"Don't look at me. You're the driver," Leo said, fastening his own belt.

As soon as the button clicked, the BattleShell roared to life and started forward, towards the wall. Mike jumped and grabbed the steering wheel, but the van turned itself, spinning out just short of impact, then came to a jerky stop, aiming itself at the closed warehouse door.

"What the shell are you doing, Mikey?" Leo asked, gripping the sides of his seat.

"**I'm** not doing it!" Mike yelled.

"Well,** I'm** not…"

The Turtles' attention was suddenly diverted as the door locks clicked down, then a long whining squeak made Leo and Mike look ahead. The two of them watched in stunned silence as the warehouse door slowly lifted.

Mike tightened his hold on the steering wheel. "Do you have a bad feeling about this, Leo?"

Leo nodded. "Yup."

The BattleShell's tires spun, sending the smell of hot rubber into the air, then the vehicle lurched out of the warehouse, onto the street beyond.


	13. Think Tank

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Think Tank**

Raphael and Casey slipped around the corner and made their way down the passageway. Casey held his ear to the door, then looked over at Raph, who was pulling a sai out of his belt.

"You don't think you're really gonna need that with this guy, do ya'?" Casey whispered.

"_Ninja 101_, Case" Raph said, slipping the blade between the door and the jamb, just to the side of the doorknob. "_Do what you can with what you have_."

Raphael shoved the sai foreword and twisted, ramming his shoulder against the door and forcing it open. The two of them leapt into the room, then slammed the door behind them and looked around. The space was small, so it didn't take long for them to locate the tech, who was sitting under the port hole, his hand working a pencil furiously across one of a dozen sheets of paper that were scattered across the desk in front of him.

"Not now, Hun," he said, lifting his other hand and waving off his guests without looking up. "I just had a thought and if I don't get it down now I'll forget what it was."

Casey and Raphael looked at one another, then walked over to the tech, who still didn't pay them any attention. Raph spun his sai and thrust it down, breaking the pencil in half and burying the weapon an inch into the wooden desktop. The man let go of the half-pencil still in his grip and let out a sigh.

"Okay," he said, turning around. "If you insist." He stood up and looked at the pair, then his face drained of color.

"We have a few questions, if you don't mind," Raph said, crossing his arms.

The man shook his head vigorously. "Uh... no, no... I don't mind at all..."

"Alright, then, Mister… uh…" Casey started.

"Doctor," the man broke in. "Doctor Edgar Silberkleit. You think I went to college for eight years to be called _mister_?"

"Okay, Dr. Salma… Siber…Slop…" Casey stumbled over the name, then waved his hand, giving up. "What the heck is going on around here, Doc?"

"Our work."

"And what work is that?" Raphael asked.

He squinted at the Turtle. "You're one of those things from last night," he said.

"Real observant, Doc. You get your degree in statin' the obvious?"

"Which one were you? One of the ones under the desk?"

"I was on the pipes... I kicked Hun out."

"Oh. I must have missed that part."

"It was right after my brother knocked you on your…"

"Hey Raph?" Casey spoke up, taking off his hat. "Don't ya' think the chit-chat can wait till later? We ain't exactly in friendly territory here, if you catch my meaning."

Raphael nodded. "Good point," he said, then grabbed Dr. Silberkleit by the shirt. "What the shell were you guys doing last night? What was that box all about?"

"What? We were…" he said, struggling against the Turtle's grip. "It's ShadowPlay!"

"What the heck is _ShadowPlay_?" Casey asked, sitting on the desk.

Raphael dropped the doctor and tilted his head to the side. "Sensei told us something about that. It's like a kind of old theater or puppet thing. But what's that got to do with your stupid silver box?"

Dr. Silberkleit straightened himself out. "Are you kidding? It has everything to do with…" he stopped and looked from Raph to Casey, then back again. "Wait, if you don't even know what it's for, why are you here harassing me about it?"

Raphael yanked his sai out of the desk and slipped it into his belt, turning away.

"Cuz his brother was in the building when your precious ShadowPlay went boom," Casey said, putting a hand on the doctor's shoulder and digging his fingers in hard.

"Oh," the doctor squeaked painfully. "Probably would have been best if he hadn't been there."

"Yeah," Casey pushed the doctor into his seat. "Probably."

"Hey, look… I didn't intend for that to happen," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "Hun knew that it was likely to overload… it happened before. Twice already, in fact. And he wants us to do it again, and again until it works."

"Looks like you're doing a bang-up job so far, doc," Casey said sarcastically.

"The problem is that it isn't going to work -- not the way he wants it to," the doctor went on. "We've told him that a hundred times, but he won't take 'no' for an answer. He has me and Dr. Goldwater over a barrel here, threatening to sink this ship and everything on it if we don't find a way to make ShadowPlay function properly."

"What's it **supposed** to do?" Raph asked. "And why does Hun want it so bad?"

Dr. Silberkleit raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Help me and I'll tell you."

"You're in no place to be negotiating, Doc," Raphael said, cracking his knuckles.

"Listen... there's more onboard than just ShadowPlay," the doctor said, sounding a bit desperate. "This isn't just a ship, it's a think tank. There are dozens of projects going on behind closed doors, hundreds of theories being developed. Dr. Goldwater and I own this vessel, but the livelihoods of hundreds depend on it. Moreover, the **lives** of millions could depend on it. The scientists and engineers onboard are working on disease cures, advanced computer technologies, new energy sources… the list goes on and on. But if he sinks this boat, everything is gone. I can't let that happen."

Raphael looked to Casey, then back at Dr. Silberkleit. "What kind of help were you looking for?"

The Doctor suddenly looked as if he wasn't sure, himself. "Hun still hasn't given up on ShadowPlay, and until he does I don't think he'll do anything to this ship or to Dr. Goldwater. He needs both of them… and **me**, to make it work. Maybe if I'm not here..."

"So you want us to break you out?" Casey asked.

"It's the only thing I can think of that might do any good."

"And you're sure he won't do anything to your boat or your buddy if you up an' take off? No offense, Doc, but you've known Hun for **how** long..?"

Raphael raised a hand, silencing Casey, then stepped to the door, opening it a crack and listening. He closed it again and looked back at the men in the room with him. "Play time's over," he said. "Hun's on his way."

The doctor's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"You can't help but hear an elephant walking on a metal deck," he said. "He's just up and around the corner, we won't be able to get out that way without him seeing us."

Casey jumped up and hauled the doctor to his feet, then shoved the desk against the door, scattering papers around the space.

"That isn't going to keep him from…" Dr. Silberkleit started, then shifted subjects. "Maybe you two could hide until he leaves, then we can find a way out of…"

"Hide where, Doc?" Casey interrupted. "In your pocket protector?"

"Then how are we going to get out of here?"

Raphael looked at the bulkhead behind him. "**We** ain't," he said, unscrewing the brass fittings that held the port hole glass in place. "You guys are."

Casey looked at the port hole, then patted Raph on the shell. "You ain't gonna fit through there, bro."

"That's what I said," Raph ran to the door pulled out his sai, forcing the blade into the doorknob. "Now get out'a here."

"You sure you know what you're doin'?" Casey asked

"Go!" Raphael whispered as the sound of jingling keys came from the other side of the door.

Casey nodded, then jumped up, grabbing both sides of the open port hole and pulling himself through, grunting slightly at the tight fit. He slid his feet down the hull, finding a barely passable foothold on some rivets, then pulled himself up, looking back into the room. "Yo, Dr. Sobriquet…" he whispered. "If you're so inclined…"

Dr. Silberkleit tried to jump up into the port hole, but only managed to smack his face against the bulkhead. "Uh, would you mind giving me a hand?" he asked, rubbing his nose.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Casey grumbled, then reached through the hole and grabbed the doctor by the shirt.

With one yank he had the man through, then his feet slipped off the rivets and the two of them fell from the side of the ship, hitting the water hard. Casey sank for a few seconds, then kicked his way up and broke the surface, fighting for the breath that had just been knocked out of him. He saw the doctor floundering a couple yards away and swam over, grabbing him by the collar and pulling his head out of the water.

Dr. Silberkleit sputtered a bit, then looked over at his rescuer. "Uh… thanks," he said sheepishly. "I can't swim."

"You might'a told me that before we jumped off a perfectly good ship."

Casey swam around the vessel, tugging the doctor behind him, and paused when he got to the bow. He peeked around, chuckling a bit at the sailors still fussing over the lines, then pushed off the hull and swam under the pier, guiding them around the supports and keeping their heads just barely above the water. They reached shore and Casey dragged the doctor out of the water, dropping him roughly onto the sand.

"You maybe can't swim, but I know you can walk," Casey snapped. "Let's go."

"What about your friend?" Dr. Silberkleit said, climbing to his knees. "Is he going to be able to handle himself?"

Casey heaved him to his feet and started walking away, motioning for him to follow. "You better hope so, Doc."

Dr. Silberkleit fell into step beside him and the two walked from the beach to a parking area near a boat ramp. "You're not just going to leave him there, are you?"

"Nope," he said, walking behind a large RV.

"Then why are you going this way instead of back to the ship?"

"Cuz we're gonna need a little help getting Raphie-boy outa' this one," Casey stepped up to a pair of motorcycles and picked up the helmet off the red one, tossing it to the doctor "But he ain't gonna be happy about it."

**oOoOoOo**

Raphael watched as Casey pulled Dr. Silberkleit out of the ship, then ran over and looked out of the port hole, letting out a relieved breath when the two of them surfaced. The jingling of keys outside the door turned to growls of frustration as Hun found he could not get the lock to work.

"Open up!" He bellowed, pounding on the door.

Raph quickly shut the port hole and tightened the fittings, hoping that Hun would not look out and see Casey and the doctor as they made their escape. He secured the last fitting and slid into the corner behind the door. A moment later Hun came crashing through, breaking the doorjamb and sending the desk flying against the far bulkhead. He stepped into the room and looked around, growling, then turned and glared at the sai that was sticking out of the doorknob. Hun grabbed the weapon and yanked it out, then his eyes fell on the Turtle hiding in the corner.

Hun lunged towards him, but Raphael ducked out of the way and somersaulted across the tiny space, unexpectedly hitting the bulkhead with his shell and falling sideways onto the deck. The man brought his foot up and aimed it for Raph's head, but as he stomped down, Raph rolled out of the way, leaping to his feet and punching Hun in the stomach. The impact didn't have much effect on Hun, though, and he swung around, intending to backhand the ninja, but hitting what was left of the doorjamb, instead. Raph took that as his chance and feigned left, then contacted Hun's jaw with an uppercut from the right. Hun fell back onto the deck and Raphael jumped on his chest as he ran out of the room.

Raph sprinted down the passageway, listening to Hun shouting out in anger behind him. He turned right, then left, then repeated the pattern, moving quickly around the ship, but not knowing at all where he was heading. He came to a hatch in the deck and jumped in, sliding down the ladder. He ran on some more and found another hatch, sliding down again. A distant hum grew near as Raph continued to make his way deeper into the ship, and after a few minutes he found himself at another hatch -- this one in the bulkhead rather than on the deck. He quickly spun the handle and leaped inside, slamming it shut behind him. The low hum was suddenly gone, replaced by a cacophony of whirrs, clanks, and buzzes. Raph looked around the space and discovered that he had stumbled into an engine room.

He grinned at the huge machinery around him. _Well, what d'ya know... couldn't have picked a better hiding spot if I tried. 

* * *

_

_**Continued...**_


	14. Luck

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Luck**

-

_Lucky there isn't much traffic,_ Donatello thought as he crouched between Mike and Leo. He played his fingers over the BattleShell's remote, guiding the vehicle through the streets of New York at a speed faster than the law allowed. _I'm lucky there aren't any police cars around right now, too..._

Luck, in fact, was all he had been relying on since he left Karai's hotel. Luck got him into the lair through a ventilation grate that he, himself, had failed to replace after working on the system earlier that week. Luck had caused Mikey to try to take a nap when everyone in the kitchen was too distracted to hear Don's attempts to contact them. Luck made Mike doze enough to hear him, then be attentive enough to see him. Luck allowed him to catch Splinter at just the right moment, when his father's mind cleared enough to allow Don to be heard. But the biggest stroke of luck, it seemed, was that the BattleShell's remote worked at all, after all it--and he--had been through.

_Of course,_ Don thought, smirking, _I'll be sure to tell them that everything went according to plan._

Don swerved to avoid a pothole and accidentally skipped the BattleShell up onto a curb, hitting a milk crate and sending it bouncing off a light post. Leo spun his head around to look at Mike, who was still struggling against the steering wheel.

"Ok… whoever is driving this thing," Mike said frantically, "I'd like to point out that that we're **on the sidewalk**!" The driver's side mirror hit a parking meter and snapped off. "And it **continues** to be the sidewalk!"

"Sorry, Mikey," Don said, grimacing. "I'm not used to doing this from inside the BattleShell!"

In fact, though his brothers' white-knuckled grips seemed to indicate otherwise, driving wasn't quite as difficult as figuring out which way he was supposed to be going in the first place. Don's entire trek back home had been made underground, and he had been thinking about how he was going to get his family's attention, not about what street he was walking below. He had begun driving without a clear course in his mind, and it had only been after many aimless turns that he decided his best bet would be to drive back to the demolished building and retrace the limousine's path from there. After several minutes, Don skidded the van to a halt just outside the fence, then paused to get his bearings.

"Mike…" Leo said, staring at the building ahead and slightly loosening his grip on the sides of his seat. "What was it you said you saw in your room?"

Mike swallowed nervously. "Donny."

"Yes?" Don looked up, then smacked himself in the forehead. "Hang on, guys!"

The other two Turtles tightened their grips once again as Don accelerated forward, driving them along the fence, to the far side of the parking lot. He started to follow the path that he had remembered Karai's driver taking; barreling through the streets, dodging cars and pedestrians and hoping that he wouldn't cross the path of any police officers. Luck, again, seemed to be on his side, as the BattleShell screeched to a halt just outside the hotel without any red and blue lights flashing in the rearview mirror. Don sighed and smiled, happy that he had made it to his destination without major incident -- though with a pair of extremely shaken and baffled brothers.

"Where are we?" Mike asked, looking out the window as the engine died.

"Beats the shell out of me," Leo grabbed his door handle and jiggled it. "But it would be nice if the door wasn't locked."

"Oh, yeah," Don said, hitting a button and popping up the latches. "Sorry about that, guys."

Leo barely flinched. "Well, that worked," he said, undoing his seatbelt and opening the door.

Donny jumped over his brother and slipped out of the van before Leo managed to get a foot on the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mike said, grabbing Leo by the arm. "Where are you going?"

Leonardo looked at him. "There's gotta be a reason for this, Mikey," he said. "I don't know who brought us here, but now that we are here…"

"Can't we just stay in the BattleShell?" Mike interrupted. "Maybe they'll change their minds and send us home."

"I doubt it, Mikey."

"But what if it's some kind of trap?"

"If that was the case they could have run us into the river or something," Leo said, stepping out of the van. "You coming?"

"Can I think about it?" Mike asked nervously, then turned towards his window. He jumped back as a face framed with black hair appeared on the other side of the glass. "See! I told you it was a trap!"

Leo sighed and walked around the BattleShell, then gave the woman a slight bow. "What is this about, Karai?" he asked as she returned the gesture.

"We need to speak, Leonardo."

Mike opened his door and stepped out. "I hate it when she says that."

She looked at the two Turtles. "Where is your brother?"

"Right here," Donny said.

Karai glanced his way. "Where is Raphael?"

"He's tending to… other business," Leonardo said.

"Good," the woman said. "His presence here would have been disruptive."

Don hated to admit it, but she was right. He had been disappointed to find that Raph wasn't home when he got there, but it hadn't taken him long to come to the same conclusion that Karai had just voiced. Raph's heart was in the right place, but all too often his sai did the speaking for him. If he had come along, chances were he wouldn't give Karai the opportunity to tell them anything, and the entire situation would remain a mystery -- and this was a mystery that Donatello desperately wanted to be solved.

"Okay, I got them here, Karai," Don said. "It's your turn."

Karai nodded. "Inside," she said, then turned and walked towards the hotel without another word.

Mike and Leo looked at one another for a brief moment, then shared a shrug and followed her across the empty street and through the revolving door. Donatello scurried after them, but the door stopped turning before he got to it. Looking past the glass, Don saw Karai give the door a shove, sending it spinning once again. He walked through, then noticed the perplexed looks on Leo and Mike's faces and let out a little laugh. They all followed her silently through the lobby, past the bewildered clerk, and down the hall. Karai unlocked the door and held it open long enough for all three turtles to walk through, then shut it and slid over the latch.

"Now do you want to tell us why you brought us here?" Leo asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I have information that you may find useful," she said. "Information about the cause of last evening's explosion."

Leo looked over at Mike and swallowed hard, then turned back towards Karai. "We're listening."

"Very well." The woman tilted her chin up and took a step forward. "Several years ago, archaeologists excavating a sunken complex off the coast of Greenland came upon a set of stone tablets. These tablets had carved into them what appeared to be diagrams for a rather modern device, though the archaeologists were unable to determine what the device was meant to do," she said. "Word of the artifacts spread through the academic community, but no one was able to offer up any plausible theories as to the device's purpose. However, due to their unique properties, the Foot took an interest in these tablets and… acquired them."

"In other words, you stole them," Mike said.

"Our scientists were given the task of deciphering the schematics," Karai went on. "Their examinations revealed the tablets to be the creation of an ancient, though highly advanced people known as the Y'Lyntians."

"The Y'Lyntians?!" all three Turtles yelled at once.

"You know of them?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Shell, yeah."

"It's kind of a long story," Leo said. "Please, go on."

Karai nodded. "The device's purpose was determined to be a means for an individual to temporarily slip into a separate pocket of reality within our reality. It would, theoretically, create a self-contained dimension that would allow a person to travel anywhere without detection or hindrance. Such a device would prove invaluable to the Foot, so its construction and testing was ordered. The project became known as _ShadowPlay_."

Don shook his head. "Amazing," he whispered to himself.

Leo looked around the room curiously, then turned back to Karai. "I'm guessing it didn't work out as planned."

"No, it did not," she said. "Several prototypes were constructed, but all of them failed catastrophically."

Leo let out a breath. "Do you know why?"

"To the best of our knowledge, it was because of certain inadequacies in the device's power supply," Karai said. "The original diagrams did not indicate what the Y'Lyntians used, but it was quickly discovered that no modern alternatives sufficed. The project was discontinued, and all prototypes were ordered to be destroyed. Hun, however, was quite adamant that _ShadowPlay_ would work. He requested a continuation of the project on several occasions, but all of his requests were denied. "

"Looks like he went over Shredder's head," Leo said.

"Apparently so. But, judging from certain developments, it seems that he has discovered an effective means of powering _ShadowPlay_."

"What _certain developments_?" Leo asked.

"Evidence of success."

Leo shook his head. "I didn't see any _success_ last night," he said, his voice deepening with anger. "All I saw was an explosion… with Donny inside it. Now, if that's what you call a _success_…"

"Karai," Don spoke up. "Maybe if you shed a little light on the subject…"

Karai nodded and walked to the desk, flipping on the reading lamp and aiming it at Donatello. He flinched in the illumination, then looked back over his shoulder at the shadow he cast on the wall. He purposefully lifted his arm and waved at his brothers.

"Hi, guys." Don lowered his arm and smiled. "Did you miss me?"

"Leo..." Mike said, staggering back. "Do you see..?"

Leonardo's mouth fell open. "D... Donny?"


End file.
